As of 1 January 2023, the sale of non-alcoholic organic wine bearing the EU organic label had been prohibited across the EU. Such products could only be marketed as conventional non-alcoholic wines. This was due to a regulatory change that brought the production of non-alcoholic wines under wine law, rather than food law.

The technique used to remove alcohol from the wine, vacuum distillation, was not previously permitted for organic wines. As a result, organic wine producers who used this method to dealcoholize the wine lost their organic certification. At a time when non-alcoholic wines are growing in popularity, this posed a significant competitive disadvantage for growers.

The EU has now addressed this issue by adding an amendment to the EU’s Organic Regulation. Vacuum distillation is now officially recognised as an approved method for dealcoholisation. This process removes alcohol under vacuum at low temperatures so that the aroma and character of the wine are largely preserved. 

This decision is expected to give fresh momentum to organic viticulture. With the new regulation in force, organic wine producers can now participate in the growing non-alcoholic wine market without sacrificing their organic status. For consumers, it also provides assurance that alcohol-free wines bearing the organic label truly meet organic standards.

With more than 3,100 exhibitors representing a myriad of diverse markets globally, the private label sector is gearing up for the most professional, prestigious and exciting trade event of the year. From 20-21 May, the RAI in Amsterdam will be the site of PLMA’s World of Private Label International Trade Show.

What’s more, the day prior to the trade show, on 19 May, Monday afternoon, from 13.00-16.00, there will be workshops and a seminar programme for early arrivals. The programme is FREE for all registered attendees of the show. The workshops include a session by Marijn Overest, former Albert Heijn buyer, on Procurement Tactics: How to get your product on a retailers’ shelf.

Check the PLMA website here for more information and for registering. You can only visit by pre-registering.

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.

A survey from EY found that 72% of Irish consumers say own-brand or generic products, once seen as the second choice on the shelves, now meets their needs. This is higher than the global level of 67%.

The survey found that sentiment varies by category and while private labels are making strides in fresh food, confectionery and processed cupboard staples, branded goods continue to dominate in beauty and alcohol – categories where image, experience and indulgence remain important.

Colette Devey of EY Ireland said consumer behaviour has traditionally shifted during economic uncertainty and periods of acute price inflation.

According to the survey, financial concerns continue to dominate the Irish consumer mindset, with 96% concerned with the cost of living and 92% with their own personal finances. Price was the primary driver of consumer purchasing in Ireland. 

Territorial supply constraints have been afflicting retailers and wholesalers for years, says Eurocommerce, the principal European organisation representing the retail and wholesale sector. It refers to a practice to fragment the Single Market to enforce different prices across countries and ensure that products cannot be sold in a market for which they are not intended. Usually, this translates into limitations on languages used on labels, or different packaging sizes or colours for the same product. These practices are costing European consumers at least 14 billion euros every year, across four product categories, according to a European Commission study. This is hard to defend given the current cost of living crisis.

Therefore, Eurocommerce is calling on the European Commission to “close the gap”. It says that competition rules may catch dominant large manufacturers. But they do not catch those not-dominant players that are still able to deliberately fragment the Single Market, for example, by using national sales offices to stop cross-border sales.

It urges the European Commission to swiftly start an impact assessment and propose legislation, for instance using the non-discrimination principle in the Geo-blocking Regulation to apply to business-to-business transactions. In a fully functioning Single Market, suppliers should be obliged to offer their products to all customers regardless of their country of origin. Retailers and wholesalers should be able to choose where in the EU they want to buy their products, just like individual consumers, and other economic sectors, can do already today. 

The international retail alliance Epic, led by Germany’s Edeka, is parting ways with one of its members. The Italian retail chain Esselunga is no longer affiliated with the group.

The partnership lasted a little over two years, but it has now come to an end. Esselunga’s membership in Epic Partners — an alliance established in 2021 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland — has been terminated. With Esselunga's exit, the alliance loses over €9 billion in net annual turnover.

In the context of the overall consortium, Esselunga represented one of its smaller players. Alongside Edeka, Epic includes Dutch grocery services Picnic and Jumbo, Swiss retailer Migros, the Portuguese group Jerónimo Martins and Aura Retail — comprising Intermarché, Casino, and Auchan.

Acting on behalf of its members, Epic negotiates continent-wide marketing incentives such as preferred product placements and coordinated discount campaigns, aiming to secure cross-border benefits from suppliers. Gianluigi Ferrari, Epic’s chief negotiator, leads these talks under a unified strategy adopted by all alliance partners — a process that, at times, involves pressuring suppliers with order suspensions to gain leverage.

The most recent shift in membership took place at the beginning of the year, when Edeka significantly strengthened Epic’s position by onboarding Aura Retail — a heavyweight with €65 billion in turnover — through Epic and its associated international purchasing organisation, Everest. This move followed the departures of French retailer Super U and Swedish group ICA in early 2024.

In Europe, the transition from animal-based proteins to plant-based proteins is part of the European Green Deal’s Farm to Fork strategy which aims to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally friendly. The current ratio of animal to plant-based options in Europe is 60/40 while globally, it is 40/60. Since a few years, retailers are committing to help bring about the protein shift, giving the fact that supermarkets can play an important role in shaping both consumer behaviour and supply chains.

Last year, NGO Madre Brava assessed the 15 largest European supermarket chains on their protein transition ambitions. The results show that all retailers have set targets to reduce emissions from the food they sell. In addition, Ahold Delhaize and Lidl were the first retailers to align their protein offerings with human and planetary health goals. Lidl in Germany became the first supermarket to offer a basket of plant-based goods which was cheaper than its animal-based alternatives. Ahold set targets in all its European retail brands to sell more plant-based and fewer animal-based proteins, with the Albert Heijn banner committing to achieve a 50% / 50% plant-animal protein split by 2025, and a 60% / 40% split by 2030.

However, Albert Heijn now reports that despite all efforts, sales of plant-based proteins are disappointing. The company will most likely not achieve the target of having 50% of the proteins sold be plant-based by the end of this current year. In 2024, 44.2 percent of proteins sold were plant-based, while the aim was for it to be 47%. The retailer says that animal proteins like chicken, and protein dairy products remain popular. Also, it has proven difficult to change consumers’ eating patterns. The behavioural change towards more plant-based choices is a long process, the company states. 

Responding to American consumers' increasing appetite for food products featuring ethnic and international ingredients and flavors, PLMA will present retailers with a record 900 suppliers from more than 60 countries at its 2024 Private Label Trade Show, November 17-19, Chicago.

The Show floor will offer 52 country and regional pavilions, another record, from North and South America, Europe and Asia, to enable buyers to source new and innovative products for today’s more discerning shoppers. New pavilions include Morocco, Poland, Vietnam, Portugal and Costa Rica. There are also expanded groups from Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Peru, Spain, and Ukraine.