According to the 2013 FMCG Balance and Perspective study done by Kantar Worldpanel, the discount chain, Lidl, had the biggest market share in 2013, up 7.6%. It is the first time that the German company has grown more than Mercadona, which increased by 6.7%, in this field.
DIA also continues to grow and increased it's share by 2.2%, "but at a slower rate than in other years," clarified César Valencoso, Consumer Insights Director from Kantar Worldpanel. The fastest growing channel is the (discount + Mercadona) price, which increased by 6%.
"Eroski's share is still declining (-1.5 %), while El Arbol is going through a difficult moment (-8.7%)," said Valencoso. He added that Ahorramas and Consum, which had high levels of share growth (+3.3 % and 2.6%, respectively), continued to be two clear alternatives to the price channel. The supermarket channel (excluding Mercadona), has reduced its quota by 0.5 %
The hypermarket channel, meanwhile, remains on a downward trend with a 1.7% share in 2013. "It's worth noting that, after a long time, the Carrefour's hypermarkets have managed to close the year with a positive figure (+1%)," stated the director of Kantar. Eroski hypermarkets have decreased by 9.6% and Auchan has lowered its market share by 1.1%.
According to Valencoso, "the great battle in consumption for the coming years will be in fresh produce." He stressed that Lidl's growth in 2013 was led by fresh produce, which accounted for 30% of their sales and half of their growth.
Regarding the evolution of the market share price of fresh foods over the past year, Mercadona experienced the largest increase (+0.9 %), to 17.2 %; followed by Lidl (+0.2 %), that stands at 1.8 %.
