The line between private label and traditional brands is blurring
First prize in the grocery category went to Gusturi Romanesti, a small grocery shop opened by large Romanian supermarket chain Mega Image. The store only sells Mega Image's private label range of regional Romanian products that it says are made using traditional recipes.
“By opening a store that primarily focusses on its own Gusturi Romanesti brands, Mega Image boldly places its private label brand front and centre, making it almost like a traditional brand,” says Malison.
The shop is also much smaller than most supermarkets. This responds to consumer demands for convenience – smaller stores in central urban locations.
It may also give the shop the feeling of being a small 'specialty store', where perception of quality can be higher higher. A 2015 US study compared consumer satisfaction levels between those shopping at small specialty stores and those at conventional supermarkets and found they were higher for the smaller specialty shops. "Customers perceive products at specialty stores, e.g. organic/natural, [to be] of higher quality than 'conventional' products offered at conventional grocery stores," write the researchers.