Researchers from German universities have found out that customers are more likely to pick up an individual banana, often left as a result of people tearing others from the bunch, if they are emotionally triggered.

The academics placed a sign in front of orphan bananas (individual bananas left as a result of people tearing others from the bunch) saying “we are sad singles and want to be bought as well”. On average, sales in single bananas went to 3.19 with the sad sign – an increase of 58%.

The researchers carried out the experiment in a major German supermarket chain, observing the purchasing behaviour of 3,810 customers over the course of 192 hours.

The average time a consumer spends in front of the shelves is very short: between 4 and 20 seconds. Purchase decisions are quick and instinctive and are driven mainly by emotion rather than rationally.

Research by Professor Vincenzo Russo, IULM University, Milan shows how quick and instinctive purchase decisions are, driven mainly by emotion rather than rationality. The brain tends to trick us and create a kind of bias in our perceptions. The packaging, its colour or shape, the appearance of the product and many other factors can influence our perception in a way that is sometimes different from reality.

At PLMA’s upcoming Packaging conference on 30 January in the Hague, Steen Tjarks, President & Co-founder of design agency Tjarks & Tjarks will dive into the topic of “Psychology of Packaging: How Design Drives Consumer Decisions -  Look, Feel, Buy: The Power of Design in Consumer Choice for Private Brands”. For more information click here.

The supermarket checkout has long been a top complaint among customers. Amazon shook up the industry in 2018 with the launch of its first autonomous store, Amazon Go. The “Just Walk Out” system used a dedicated app and an array of cameras and sensors. After linking a bank account or credit card, customers could walk into the store, pick and bag their items, and leave without stopping at a checkout.

Six years later, Amazon is closing several of these stores. Despite sufficient foot traffic, profitability has been elusive. In the meantime, other retailers have launched their own trials. For example, Aldi opened an autonomous store called Shop & Go in the Netherlands. Despite adjusting payment options, the pilot ended after just over two years. Similarly, Carrefour’s cashierless Carrefour Flash store in France closed two years after its debut.

In Spain, retailer DIA and rapid deliverer Glovo have analysed consumers who use the service for deliveries “within 30 minutes”. The typical customer places an average of 1.4 orders per week, with a smaller basket size (€10 to €15) compared to customers using traditional e-commerce channels (€25 to €30).

The most purchased products are beverages, eggs, dairy, and fresh items such as fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish. These are followed by bakery and pastry products, frozen goods and drugstore and cleaning products. In terms of order time, Saturday is the most popular day, followed by Monday. Most orders are placed mid-morning or mid-afternoon.

The analysis also revealed a 23% increase in orders on Sunday, 1^st September, marking the end of the summer holidays, compared to other Sundays. Similar peaks occur after Christmas and Easter holidays. In addition, during the Champions League semi-finals last season, orders surged by 33%.

Lidl’s parent company, Schwarz Group, is advancing its strategy of controlling its business operations by partnering with Google to deliver secure and sovereign cloud-based collaboration for German and European regulated industries. 

Through this partnership, Schwarz Group’s StackIT, the retailer’s cloud provider, will offer client-side encryption for customers’ Google Workspace data. StackIT ensures that customer data remains within the European Union, with full redundancy provided by backups hosted solely in European data centres to meet demands for data protection, residency, and resiliency.

“Germany and the EU have until now lacked enterprise-grade cloud collaboration solutions that fully address the sovereignty requirements of regulated industries, including ensuring all data is secured and backed up on local soil with absolutely no opportunity for access by foreign nations or platform providers,” said Rolf Schumann, co-CEO of Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of the Schwarz Group. “Our partnership and new offering with Google Cloud will fill this gap with an entirely new business model.”

Intermarché (ITM) aims to increase its private label share of sales from 35% to 40% by 2026, representing an additional €2 billion in turnover. The number of private label brands will be reduced from 32 to 25, and the existing 9,500 SKUs will be redesigned. Currently, 85% of Intermarché’s own brands are manufactured in France, with 40% of products carrying a Nutri-Score A or B.

To enhance brand recognition, the new packaging will feature the Intermarché name in red and black on a white band at the top. The revamped products will gradually be appearing on the shelves starting March 2025. The facelift should be completed in March 2027.

The retailer is investing 10 million euros in the rebranding process. Alongside the review of its existing range, 350 new products are scheduled to be launched next year.

Flywheel’s annual Top 50 list of European food retailers reveals that four German retailers are among the five largest companies by turnover: Schwarz Group (1), Rewe Group (2), Aldi (3) and Edeka (5). The ranking was based on the retailers’ gross sales forecast for the entire 2024 financial year. Schwarz Group stands far above its pursuers with estimated revenues of 186 billion euros, equal to the amount as the combined turnover of second-placed Rewe (€97.1 billion) and third-placed Aldi (€89 billion). French retailer Carrefour ranks fourth with €73.8 billion and Edeka closes the top 5 with €73.2 in sales.

Following them in the ranking are Tesco (€72.7 billion), E. Leclerc (€50.5 billion), Ahold Delhaize (€43.3 billion), Intermarché (€43.2 billion) and X5 Retail Group (€41.9 billion). All but one retailer in the full top 50 list reported sales grow this year. The only exception was French retailer Casino, which saw a 20% decline after years of debt-fuelled acquisitions and a declining market share. The list was published by Lebensmittel Zeitung.

PLMA’s 2025 World of Private Label show will be held May 20-21 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre, The Netherlands. 

Products on display will include fresh, frozen and refrigerated foods, dry grocery, and beverages as well as non-food categories, including cosmetics, health and beauty, household and kitchen, auto aftercare, garden, housewares and DIY.

The show floor is divided into nine food halls and five non-food halls to help visitorake the most of their time.

Click here for more information.

According to a recent study by DS Smith and consumer research institute Retail Economics, almost half of the food packaging in German supermarkets consists of avoidable plastic. But changing the packaging is proving difficult: despite growing awareness, industry efforts to shift towards sustainable solutions are hindered by competitive concerns and consumer behaviour.

Key barriers include the cost of raw materials, which 40% of respondents cited as the primary hurdle. Consumer acceptance poses another challenge: 39% of industry experts are concerned that customers may resist changes to packaging.

The study reviewed 1,500 food and beverage packaging samples across major supermarkets in Germany, France, Italy, Poland, and Spain, finding that a substantial portion of packaging could be replaced or eliminated to significantly reduce plastic waste.

European plastic consumption remains considerable, with the UK topping the list at 

70% of food packaging comprising plastic, followed by Spain (67%), Germany and Italy (66%), Poland (62%), and France (59%).

A new PLMA study entitled "European Retailers & Manufacturers Talk About the Future: What will the private label landscape look like in the next five years?", reveals that nine in 10 private label manufacturers and retailers say that the success of private label will continue going forward. 

"Given that the share of private labels in Europe is already the highest at 39 percent of the entire food market, the reaction of experts in the industry is generating great optimism among all private label players," said PLMA President Peggy Davis.

With the optimism, there are also challenges, and day-to-day operational issues, not competitive ones, appear to be the biggest issue for both players, manufacturers and retailers. Geopolitical unrest and climate change are putting pressure on the supply chain and on the consistent quality and availability of raw materials and ingredients. Also, finding skilled personnel is a concern and could get in the way of the companies’ expected growth forecast.

The study was built on a survey, conducted between June and August, among 1,017 executives from 865 private label manufacturers and retailers in 37 European countries. For more information contact Judith Kolenburg at kolenburg@plma.nl.