Own brand confectionery grows across European markets

European confectionery private label market share is continuing to grow strongly, according the latest statistics by Neilsen for the Private Label Market Association.

Results indicate that the retailer brand market grew strongly across 15 of the
18 countries studied by Neilsen. Western European countries had significant
growth, despite strong competition from the brands, however, the biggest
results were in Central and Eastern Europe.
Retailer brand confectionery has continued to grow across Europe, in both
Eastern and Western countries.

The greatest growth in the confectionery market was in
treated nuts, which grew by 4.1 per cent, however plain recipe chocolate bars
lost 20.8 per cent of the retailer brand market. Coated fruit confectionery was
the third top gainer of market share points in 2006, rising 18.7 points.
 In Hungary, 23 per cent of the
confectionery market was private label brands, with candies gaining 8.7 percent
between 2005 and 2006 to 31.3 per cent, and lollipops gaining 8.4 per cent to
14.8 per cent of the market.
In Poland, retailer brand chocolate spread held 42.9 per cent of the market,
and chocolate tablets held 24.1 per cent of the market, up 6.8 per cent from
2005. The biggest growth in Poland was in candies, which went up 7.5 per cent
from 2005 to 19 per cent of the market.
In the Czech Republic, the retailer brand confectionery went up from 5.7 per
cent to 18.6 per cent of the market between 2005 and 2006, where the biggest
growth was in candies, gaining 18.9 per cent of the market to 26.3 per cent
within the year.