Is Lion’s mane gaining popularity as a functional ingredient?

Lion’s mane is quickly gaining traction as a popular functional ingredient in food and beverages. As awareness of its claimed health benefits grows, manufacturers are witnessing a significant rise in demand for products containing this unique mushroom.

Lion’s mane is an edible mushroom native to Asia, Europe, and North America. It is easily recognizable by its long, white, shaggy spines that resemble a lion’s mane, which is how it earned its name. This striking appearance is one of the key features that make it stand out as an ingredient in both culinary and functional products.

Research claims that lion’s mane offers a range of health benefits, including supporting cognitive function, promoting nerve repair, improving cardiovascular health, and even aiding in weight management. These attributes have fuelled consumer interest in incorporating the mushroom into their diets, either through foods, beverages, or supplements.

The versatility of lion’s mane would make it an excellent addition to a variety of products, from risotto, pasta, soup, smoothies and protein shakes to cereal bars. Its unique earthy flavour adds depth to different dishes, allowing it to easily integrate into a wide range of food and beverage formulations.

In addition to its functional benefits, lion’s mane is praised for its taste. Many consumers describe the mushroom as having a mild, savoury flavour with a seafood-like quality. This makes it not only a functional ingredient but also an appealing one, further increasing its potential in new product development.

Thanks to its meaty texture and subtle seafood flavour, lion’s mane is said to be an ideal ingredient for vegan and vegetarian products. It serves as a natural alternative to meat and seafood, providing a clean and functional option for plant-based meals, without the need for highly processed ingredients.

Divorce averted: French Council annuls veggie burger name ban

The French plant-based sector reacted with relief to the decision of the Council of State to annul two decrees prohibiting the naming of products containing plant proteins with butcher, delicatessen and fishmonger terms like “steak”, “burger”, “lardon”, or “sausage”.

The Council of State deemed the French decrees of 2022 and 2024 to be illegal and contrary to European regulations. The fact that those decrees targeted only French producers was also considered particularly unfair and unacceptable. The case is closed now with a full victory for the plant-based advocates. The French government will pay €3,000 each to the parties that brought the case to court.

Colruyt rewards customers for making more sustainable choices

Belgian retail leader Colruyt has expanded its Eco-score label with a savings programme. The ecolabel, launched in 2021, provides insight into the environmental impact of products.

At PLMA’s Private Label Packaging Conference in January, Greet De Feyter, head of product sustainability, and Ilka Lannau, head of division private label of Colruyt Group, explained how the company stimulates consumers to consciously consume more sustainably with the help of the Eco-score on the packaging and the associated savings programme.

According to the retailer, consumers increasingly attach importance to transparency and sustainable products. Research shows that 90% of consumers consider transparency of brands important in their purchasing decisions. In addition, 75% of consumers would be willing to switch to brands that offer more than just product and nutritional information. 50% of consumers also plan to buy healthy, local or environmentally friendly products more often.

“The Eco-score helps customers make sustainable choices at a glance,” said De Feyter. The system classifies products on a scale from A (green, low environmental impact) to E (red, high environmental impact). “By making this label visible on packaging and in digital channels, we offer consumers the opportunity to make informed decisions about their purchases.”

To actively reward consumers for making sustainable choices, Colruyt linked a savings programme to the Eco-score. “When customers buy a product with an Eco-score A or B, they earn points in the retailers Xtra app. They can exchange these points to, for example, plant a tree, support a social project or receive a free sustainable product,” explains De Feyter. “The idea is to make sustainable consumption not only easier, but also more attractive.”

The savings programme seems effective: in one year, Colruyt Group hopes to collect 12 million points for sustainable projects. In the meantime, 50,000 trees have been planted, and more and more social and environmental initiatives are being supported.

UK watchdog group proposes shake-up of baby formula market

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has proposed measures to tackle the high cost and limited choice in the baby formula market. These suggestions aim to save parents up to £300 a year by encouraging them to choose lower-priced brands. The proposals include standardising packaging and labelling in hospitals to reduce the influence of branding on new parents, as well as allowing parents to use loyalty points and gift vouchers for formula purchases.

The CMA rejected the idea of a price cap on formula products, citing potential risks such as pushing up prices of cheaper brands. Instead, the CMA recommended providing clearer information in stores, with all brands displayed together, so parents can make informed decisions and easily compare prices. The watchdog also suggested removing restrictions on using loyalty points to buy formula but advised maintaining a ban on advertising formula products to avoid discouraging breastfeeding.

The CMA’s study, which began in November 2023, revealed that manufacturers raised prices by up to 36% in just two years, leading to higher profit margins during the cost-of-living crisis. The three main companies—Danone, Nestlé, and Kendal—control more than 90% of the market.

Retailer Iceland has already responded by introducing clearer labels on formula products in its stores, emphasizing that all brands meet the same nutritional standards. The CMA's proposals aim to provide more transparency and help parents make better choices. However, some industry players, like HiPP Organic UK, feel that the report misses the opportunity to foster healthier competition.

Aldi accelerates its US expansion

Discounter Aldi has announced that it plans to open 225 new stores in the US in 2025. This is the most stores Aldi will open in one year in its nearly 50-year US history. Currently, the retailer operates over 2,400 stores there, which is already much more than the approximately 2,000 stores that Aldi has in its home country Germany. The US expansion is part of the next phase of its five-year national growth strategy.

The new stores will open through a combination of organic growth and converting select Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarket stores to the Aldi banner. With the move, the retailer is adding to its established footprint in some regions and entering into new regions.

Aldi said that in 2024, 19 million new shoppers were drawn to its stores in the US. In November, Aldi US President Dave Rinaldo spoke at PLMA’s Chicago trade show about Aldi’s growth plans. He also stressed that the time is right for private label growth throughout the industry. "Private label is having a moment. Amid inflation, shoppers discovered they don’t need to sacrifice quality to save money," said Rinaldo. "In fact, 90% of shoppers say they’ll continue to buy private label in the future."

The keys to private label success, Rinaldo added, are "obsessing over quality, innovating to excite shoppers, controlling costs, and keeping our customers at the centre of everything we do.”

McKinsey: Grocery retail margins are under growing pressure

In its European “Grocery profitability outlook," consultant firm McKinsey concludes that grocery retail margins are low compared to other industries and have been under pressure. Macroeconomic conditions and industry dynamics have negatively affected hypermarkets and supermarkets over the past five years whereas discounters slightly increased margin.

The average operating profit margin (EBITDA) of food retailers was 7.1 percent between 2009 and 2023. Hypermarkets and supermarkets only post an EBITDA margin of 6.6 percent on average in 2023. According to the researchers, the decrease in the past five years. McKinsey warns that these are averages, as profitability varies considerably between retailers.

For example, over the past five years, Polish Dino has an EBITDA margin of 9.2% and Kesko has 9.1 percent. Axfood reached an 8.6% margin and Ahold Delhaize posted 8.5%. Sonae’s margin was 8.1% and Colruyt 7.9%. For Jeronimo Martins it amounts to 7.5%, for Lidl it is 6.1% and for Carrefour 5.9%. Metro Germany closes the ranks with an EBITDA margin of 4.8%.

McKinsey expects that over the next five years, pressure on grocers’ margins will continue, especially for hyper/supermarkets. If no counter measures are taken, average EBITDA impact could average to a decrease of -0.2 to -2.7 pp for hyper/ supermarkets.

The company advises supermarkets to do a step change across a set of levers on growth, operational excellence and transformative change. It says that bolder actions are needed as historical cost optimization will not be sufficient and impact will heavily depend on the actions taken. The experts say that while many grocers are making progress, none fully accelerated their efforts.

McKinsey anticipates that the discounters’ share of sales in Europe will grow from 21.8 in 2023 to between 23 and 26 percent in 2026, an increase of +0.9 to 3.8pp. It expects private label share of hypermarket/supermarket volume in Europe to increase from 27.7 in 2023 to between 31 and 33% in 2029, an increase of 3.1 to 5.6pp.

Danish non-food chain accelerates expansion

Søstrene Grene had its strongest financial result in the company’s history in the latest financial year, according to its CEO, Mikkel Grene. The Danish company increased sales by 22% and profit went up 15%.

Its stores offer a wide assortment of home interiors, kitchen items, hobby articles, beauty, travel items, party supplies, gift wrapping, stationery, toys as well as seasonal items. Every week, new products land in stores. Prices are low, most products are sold under 10 euros.

The concept is different from other non-food discounters in that the atmosphere in the stores is special, focused on aesthetics and ambience, appealing to the customers’ senses. Goods are on wooden shelves and wicker baskets, with warm light and delicate colours. The layout draws the consumer into the depths of the store, while the sense of time is quickly lost. Almost all the items in the store are own brands.

After the strong results of the past 52 weeks, the company now wants to take the opportunity of the momentum and expand its network of over 300 stores to a targeted 500 stores within the next three years. The company operates stores and web shops in 16 European countries.

Countries, big brands strike out at popular Nutri-Score

Despite its widespread appeal, Nutri-Score has faced pushback in several countries, including Italy, Romania, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Authorities in these nations argue that the system unfairly penalizes traditional products, such as those commonly found in the Mediterranean diet. Critics contend that Nutri-Score oversimplifies food evaluations by focusing on select nutritional factors, which can distort consumer understanding of a product’s overall health value.

In addition to governmental objections, major brands like Danone, Heineken, Unilever, and Arla Foods have expressed reluctance to adopt Nutri-Score on their product packaging. These companies argue that the algorithm used to calculate the scores doesn’t align with their national dietary guidelines, or that recent changes to the system have downgraded their products to lower categories, resulting in what they believe to be unfairly low scores.

Nutri-Score, a front-of-pack label (FOPL) system, uses a color-coded, traffic-light-like design to rate the nutritional quality of packaged foods based on their fat, sugar, salt, and calorie content per 100 grams or millilitres. A “Green A” signals the healthiest option, while a “Red E” represents the least nutritious.

Recent revisions to the Nutri-Score system have reclassified dairy and plant-based beverages. For example, solid yogurt, considered a meal food, is classified differently from drinkable yogurt, which is viewed as a beverage often consumed between meals, moving it from the general food category to the beverage category. This shift had a significant impact on product ratings, as the algorithm applies different nutritional criteria depending on the product category. As a result, certain dairy products that previously held high ratings of “A” or “B” dropped to lower ratings of “D” or “E,” largely due to their sugar content or the use of alternative sweeteners.

In the beverage category, only water maintains the top rating of a “Green A.”

Packaging at crossroads

The forthcoming EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is set to reshape the packaging landscape across Europe. The new legislation aims to drastically reduce packaging and packaging waste and will be implemented gradually starting mid-2026. It establishes ambitious goals for manufacturers and retailers, impacting both branded products and private label.

A turning point for packaging! A new era for packaging! Revolutionary! Game-Changing! Experts keep on finding new words to express what an immense change this law will bring. The final version of the law is expected to be published before the end of this year, officially setting the timeline for implementation. So, how will the PPWR impact the private label sector? The answer is clear: it will significantly alter how packaging is designed, consumed, and disposed of throughout the entire EU value chain. Businesses need to be ready.

As part of the EU Green Deal, the regulation has three core objectives: to reduce packaging waste, promote high-quality recycling, and establish uniform rules across all member states. While there was previously an EU directive on packaging waste, it allowed individual countries considerable flexibility. Now, with this regulation, standardized guidelines will apply across the board, with stricter enforcement.

To address these changes, PLMA will hold an in-depth conference on all aspects of packaging on 30 January 2025. The event will not only focus on the new PPWR legislation, but will feature a diverse range of packaging related presentations, covering topics such as private label packaging trends, innovation, creative design, sustainability, a look into the future, and consumer perception. It is a must-attend for anyone in the private label industry. For more information, click here.

Come and go in Everest Alliance: Aura Retail in, Super U out

In a surprising turn of events, Cooperative U, operator of the Super U supermarket chain, is set to part ways with the international purchasing alliance Everest, as well as the Epic alliance. The retailer joined the alliance only two years ago, partnering with the other members Edeka, Picnic and Jumbo. The split is reportedly due to internal disagreements among the partners, potentially around strategic approaches or negotiations. Everest negotiates purchasing prices for its partners with more than 50 multinationals. Epic Partners includes Edeka, Jumbo and Picnic, as well as Migros Group, Jerónimo Martins and Esselunga. Epic negotiates with major suppliers for top-quality conditions for international marketing campaigns.

Just days after Cooperative U’s departure was announced, Everest and Epic welcomed a significant new member: Aura Retail, a French food purchasing powerhouse. Aura Retail stated that it wants to negotiate the best pricing conditions with the biggest multinational manufacturers, thus allowing more advantageous prices for its customers. With Aura Retail now onboard, Everest is expected to rival the size and influence of Eurelec, a key alliance between E. Leclerc, Rewe, and Ahold Delhaize.

Meanwhile, Aura Retail, Everest’s new partner, recently published details of this new partnership forged between Intermarché, Auchan and Casino. The French alliance comprises five operational structures offering purchasing partnerships between the three groups for an initial period of 10 years. For food purchases, Aura Retail will be made up of three central purchasing units managed by Intermarché. For non-food purchases of national brands, two structures have been set up by Aura Retail and managed by Auchan. Private label is part of the portfolio of the alliance.

With the departure of Cooperative U and the entry of Aura Retail, Everest is undergoing a significant transformation. The evolving makeup of these international purchasing alliances reflects the increasingly complex and competitive nature of global retail. As large retailers seek to enhance their negotiating power with multinational suppliers, these alliances will continue to shift in response to both internal dynamics and external market pressures.