GERMANY: Discounters "to claim half of German grocery"

By: just-food.com | 7 March 2008

The discount sector is set to claim half of the German grocery market, as discounters expand from food into other sectors, according to retail analysts Verdict Research.

Verdict forecast that by 2012 one in every two Euros in German grocery retailing will be taken by the discounters.

Of Germany's EUR131bn grocery market, the main discounters - Aldi, Lidl, Netto, Norma, Penny and Plus - now hold a combined share of 42%, Verdict said.

Daniel Lucht, senior analyst at Verdict Research and author of the report, said the "price conscious nature" of German consumers is present in "every sector of the German retail universe".

Meanwhile, the 2007 increase in VAT and the discounter boom is "severely impacting" on Germany's retail market, Verdict said.

Verdict said that for the first time since 2002 the retail market had contracted, posting a decline of 0.9% to EUR354bn (US$545bn).

"The overall retail market in Germany has receded back to what it was in 2005, meaning expenditure has been similar to that seen at the tail end of the last recession in the country," Verdict said.

Sectors: Baby food, Bakery, Chilled foods, Confectionery, Dairy, Fresh produce, Meat & poultry, Natural & organic, Retail, Seafood, Snacks