France’s third largest supermarket operator, Intermarché, is to rationalise its 180 own label brands to just under 100, adding the group’s  Mousquetaire umbrella branding. Some 25 of these brands represented 60% of last year’s EUR30bn (US$37.8bn) sales total.


Of 86 food brands last year, 33 will be retained. The best-known include the Pâturage (pastures) dairy range, the Jean Rozé meat brand, Monique Ranou charcuterie and Odysée seafoods.


Premium brands which Intermarché has acquired and will retain include Capitaine Cook canned fish, Onno craft charcuturie, pork curing brand Lou Montagnard and Filet Bleu (Blue Net) biscuits.


This year, Intermarché supermarkets and Ecomarché superettes have been putting Mousquetaire flash stickers on 1,000 own-label lines for which prices have been blocked. Customers have responded positively to the clearer retailer branding and the programme has been rolled out to a further 500 lines.


In addition to full nutritional listings on product labelling, from next year a ‘Mousquetaire selection’ red seal will be introduced to own label products.