European private label crossed 50% of all units sold across the EU6 in 2025 — a threshold that signals structural, not cyclical, change. Circana tracked millions of SKUs across 230+ FMCG categories and found the share of private label units sold has increased every year since 2021, adding more than three percentage points cumulatively over the period.
Three permanent forces are driving this: quality convergence (60% of European consumers now rate private label "as good as" national brands), AI-purchasing behaviour (algorithmic recommendations steering shoppers to value equivalents), and hard-discount expansion (Lidl and Aldi now hold 17.4% of UK grocery sales, almost entirely private label).
| Country | PL Value Share | PL Unit Share | YoY Change | Trajectory | Top PL Brands |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 55% | 56% | +0.5pp | Saturated | Albert Heijn Huismerk, Jumbo private label, Plus/Dirck |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | 51% | 59% | +0.7pp | High | Hacendado (Mercadona), B-brand lines (Lidl España) |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland | ~50% | Highest in Europe | Flat | Mature | Coop (43% retailer share), Migros (250 private brands), Prodega |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | 42% | ~45% | +0.4pp | Steady | Ja! (Rewe), Good N Day (Kaufland), Lidl own brand (~80% of SKUs) |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 37% | 44% | +0.6pp | Accelerating | Tesco Finest, Tesco Value, Sainsbury's Taste the Difference |
| 🇫🇷 France | 36% | ~40% | +0.3pp | Steady | Carrefour MDD, Casino private label, Leclerc drive |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | 30–31% | ~35% | +4.7% by value (H1 2025) | Fastest growing | Conad, Esselunga, Iper Standa private lines |
| 🇵🇱 Poland | ~28–32% | ~35% | +0.8pp | Strong | Biedronka Marka Własna (JM), Lidl Polska |
SOURCES: CIRCANA EU6 DATA (2025); PLMA/NIELSENIQ 2025 PRIVATE LABEL MARKET REPORT (17 MARKETS); KANTAR WORLDPANEL; GROCERY TRADE NEWS SWITZERLAND 2025; DISCOUNT RETAIL CONSULTING; JERÓNIMO MARTINS FY2025 ANNUAL REPORT
| Retailer | Country | PL Share of Revenue | PL Brands / Tiers | Est. PL Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldi Nord (ES/PT) | ES, PT | ~82% | Full assortment PL, phantom brands | +1.8% YoY |
| Lidl España | Spain | 81.9% | B-brand lines + SpecialBuys | +2.1% YoY |
| Mercadona (Hacendado) | Spain | 74.5% of group sales | Hacendado (food), Bosque Verde (cleaning), Deliplus (beauty/HPC), Compy (pet) | +1.2% YoY |
| Tesco Finest | UK | £2.5bn revenue | Finest (premium), Everyday Value (entry), standard own-label | +18% YoY |
| Sainsbury's TtD | UK | £2bn revenue | Taste the Difference (premium), Stamford Street (value) | +20% YoY |
| Albert Heijn | Netherlands | ~50% of revenue | AH Huismerk, AH Puur & Eerlijk (sustainable), AH Basic (value) | +0.5% YoY |
| Biedronka (JM) | Poland | ~40–45% of Polish sales | Marka Własna (full basket), seasonal limited editions | +7.4% YoY (JM group) |
| Carrefour MDD | Multi (EU) | ~35% of French revenue | Reflet de France (regional premium), generic MDD, Carrefour Bio | +1.5% YoY |
| Coop CH | Switzerland | ~45% of Swiss food sales | 20+ brands across all FMCG, Prix Garantie (value) | +1.0% YoY |
| Migros CH | Switzerland | ~40% of Swiss food sales | 250 private brands, M-Budget (entry), Migros Bio | -0.3pp share loss |
SOURCES: CIRCANA EU6 DATA (2025); PLMA/NIELSENIQ 2025; STATISTA (SPAIN RETAILER PL SHARE 2024); GROCERY TRADE NEWS (TESCO FINEST JUN 2025); THE GROCER (SAINSBURY'S TTD); DISCOUNT RETAIL CONSULTING (MERCADONA REVOLUTION); JM FY2025; DELOITTE GLOBAL POWERS OF RETAILING 2025
EUROPEAN PRIVATE LABEL POWER INDEX — 2026 SNAPSHOT ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ MARKET VALUE SHARE UNIT SHARE YoY TRAJECTORY ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Netherlands 55% 56% +0.5pp [SATURATED] Spain 51% 59% +0.7pp [HIGH GROWTH] Switzerland ~50% Highest Flat [MATURE] Germany 42% ~45% +0.4pp [STEADY] UK 37% 44% +0.6pp [ACCELERATING] France 36% ~40% +0.3pp [STEADY] Italy 30–31% ~35% +4.7% [FASTEST GROWTH] Poland ~28–32% ~35% +0.8pp [STRONG] PREMIUM TIER GROWTH vs ENTRY TIER: ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Tesco Finest £2.5bn ████████████████████████ +18% YoY Sainsbury's TtD £2bn ██████████████████████ +20% YoY AH Excellent undisclosed █████████████████ mid-single-digit Carrefour Bio undisclosed ██████████████ high-single-digit EU6 SUMMARY: €291B PL value | 40% value share | 50% unit share Premium PL now 6.3% of own-label basket (up from 5.7% in 2024) Hard discounters: Aldi ES 82% PL | Lidl DE ~80% PL | Mercadona 74.5%
SOURCE: CIRCANA EU6 TRACKER (L52W AUG 2025) · PLMA/NIELSENIQ 2025 · KANTAR WORLDPANEL 2025 · GROCERY TRADE NEWS · THE GROCER · JM FY2025 · AISLEINTEL ANALYSIS · MAY 2026
| Retailer / Range | Revenue | YoY Growth | Key Categories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesco Finest | £2.5bn | +18% | Ready meals, premium chilled, wine, festive gifting |
| Sainsbury's Taste the Difference | £2bn | +20% | Deli/picnic, fresh prepared, Christmas seasonal |
| Albert Heijn Excellent | undisclosed | +mid-single-digit | Premium fresh, organic, culinary |
| Carrefour Bio / Reflet de France | undisclosed | +high-single-digit | Regional specialties, organic, French provenance |
| M&S Food | ~£1.3bn (est.) | +12% | Prepared meals, seasonal, luxury food hall |
SOURCES: BLOOMBERG (TESCO SALES JUN 2025); THE GROCER (SAINSBURY'S Q3 2025); CIRCANA 2026; KANTAR WORLDPANEL FMCG 2025; FOODNAVIGATOR/CIRCANA EUROPE VS US PRIVATE LABEL TRENDS
The Home-Dining Boom as Structural Driver
Analysts at Robinhood UK and Black (broker) both attribute the Tesco Finest surge to a home-dining substitution effect — restaurant prices remain elevated, prompting consumers to "trade up" to premium private label at home rather than dine out. This structural habit change is accelerating premium own-brand growth across the continent.
Premium as % of own-label total: 6.3% (Kantar, 12 weeks to Q4 2025), up from 5.7% — a 10.5% relative increase in premium share of own-label basket in one year. The mid-tier squeeze is real: retailers are caught between Aldi/Lidl dominating the entry tier and premium own-brand growing 3–4x faster than value own-label at traditional supermarkets.
Mercadona Hacendado — The European Benchmark
Mercadona operates 1,681 stores (Spain) + 63 in Portugal. Its private label model is structurally distinct: a network of ~125 "intersuppliers" co-develop exclusive products under the Hacendado umbrella. In 2024, Mercadona transitioned to a "totalers" open supplier model — breaking exclusive supplier relationships to inject competition and innovation.
The move is accelerating innovation cycles across the Hacendado range while maintaining quality at price points 20–40% below branded equivalents. The same pattern is repeating across Europe: retailers with highest PL share (Lidl, Mercadona, Aldi) are also the most aggressive at demanding category captaincy rights.
With private label averaging 20–35% price below equivalent branded products, and own-brand share now exceeding 40% of European FMCG value, branded manufacturers face a compounding margin squeeze. The mechanism is not just price competition — it's shelf allocation. Retailers with >40% PL share control enough shelf to de-prioritise national brands, reducing brand visibility and compounding the problem over time. Private label supply partnerships are no longer optional for branded manufacturers who want to maintain retailer relationships.
Electronic shelf labels (ESL) — led by VusionGroup (€1.5bn market cap, Schwarz Group partnership) — are enabling retailers to reprice private label in near-real-time, narrowing the gap with national brands during promotional windows and undercutting during price wars without physical relabeling costs. As ESL rolls out across full-line supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Albert Heijn), national brand trade spend efficiency must be reassessed against ESL-enabled private label repricing frequency.
2027 projection: Retailers with >45% private label share will formally integrate branded manufacturers into a "category co-investment" model where shelf allocation, pricing, and promotional activity are negotiated as a package — with private label brands receiving priority unless the branded alternative delivers measurable incremental category margin. Branded manufacturers need to demonstrate sustained demand-driven sell-through to maintain position in a private-label-dominant shelf environment.