Called 365, the new brand was launched in Belgium on 19 May and will be rolled out to Delhaize's other European operations in Greece, the Czech Republic and Romania over the next few weeks.
The 365 brand will not replace Delhaize's existing own label products but will rather reinforce it, the company said. They will, however, replace minor branded goods - those which sell at a low price and which do not have any marketing support, the company said.
The products will be "at least equivalent to that of hard discount and better than that of the first price products of other competitors", the company claimed.
Discount stores across Europe have taken an increasing share of grocery sales as many of the continent's economies have shrunk over the last few years.
The first products to be launched under the 365 brand will be in the grocery, frozen food, beverages, dairy, fruit & vegetables and wine segments. Over the coming weeks, other products will be added to the assortment, taking the total to 300 by the end of the year in Belgium and Greece. In the Czech Republic and Romania, fifty products will be available by the end of 2004.
Delhaize said that it was able to substantially reduce the overall unit cost of each product in the 365 range by combining the purchasing for all four European units. Costs and supplies could also be reduced by supply chain optimisation - in other words, using one single delivery point for all the European operations - it said.
Delhaize will also cut costs by using the same packaging for each country featuring displays in up to eight languages (French, Dutch, German, Greek, Czech, Slovak, Romanian and English). Each pack will also feature the same Delhaize logo (a lion in a sun, against an orange background on top of 365).
But the low price does not mean a dip in quality, the chain stressed. "In order to guarantee the quality of the products, all suppliers have been audited according to the BRC-standard and strict quality criteria have been written down in specification books. External labs conduct quality controls on the products," Delhaize said in a statement.
As for the pricing policy, Delhaize said that it would match the prices of hard discount stores for products of the same quality and volume, although products of better quality than those sold in discounters were likely to be higher in price.
Although it will be available in every market, the 365 brand will not necessarily be available in every Delhaize store. In Belgium, for example, all the company's formats will offer the brand (supermarkets, AD, Proxy Delhaize, Delhaize City, Shop 'n Go, and Caddy Home), while in Greece, the brand will be available at AB Vassilopoulos, AB City and Trofo Markets, in the Czech Republic at Delvita and Delvita City and in Romania at Mega Image and Mega Image City stores.