By / Koen de Jong, Managing Director at International Private Label Consult (IPLC )

This May, I was a guest speaker at a symposium in the United Kingdom on invitation of The Institute of European and Comparative Law of the University of Oxford. Topic of this year’s event was: Trends in Retail Competition: Private labels, brands and competition policy.

The night prior to the event I stayed at a bed & breakfast in a little village near Oxford. As the lady of the house served scrambled eggs for breakfast she asked ‘would you be so kind to let us know how our eggs taste?’ As she noticed my surprise she explained: ‘we are comparing the quality of eggs of a few farmers in the vicinity to decide where to get the chickens for our newly built henhouse’.

It made me think of the large scale ‘Chosen-by-You’ project of Asda in 2010.

The central idea behind Chosen-by-You was to show that Asda is as concerned about quality as about price. All products in the standard private label assortment range were tried, tested and approved by Asda shoppers before allowed to reach the shelves. In total £100 million was invested, 200,000 British consumers were involved in tastings and 3,500 private label products re-launched under the brand name Chosen-by-You.

The project was to deliver a fundamental shift in consumer perception of quality and provide reassurance that the entire range was tested with real consumers. Since its launch Chosen-by-You has achieved significant sales and market growth.

Although Asda may claim to have succeeded in improving the quality of its products, on the innovation side, the retailer still has a long way to go.

To the horror of the big four (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons) British trade magazine The Grocer appointed Aldi as the clear winner in the Own label Food & Drink Awards contest. With a market share in the United Kingdom of only 3,5%, Aldi wheeled in not less than fifteen gold and ten silver medals, leaving the perplexed competition behind.

Aldi seems to have found a strong model for new product development. The discounter listens and anticipates consumer needs, then focuses on what matters. Product development seems quite intuitive and simple to them.

Like Aldi and Asda the lady of the house of my bed & breakfast near Oxford was interested in what her guests really liked. It is the question whether this will effectively lead to the best tasting eggs. However, sitting at breakfast I got the impression she was truly interested in my opinion and did not think lightly about choosing her hens. As her guest this made me feel good.