Speaking at today's annual IGD Convention, Unilever chief executive Paul Polman and Sainsbury's customer director Gwyn Burr agreed that consumers benefit from competition between retailers and brands.
Several supermarket chains, including Sainsbury's with its ongoing ‘Switch and Save' campaign, have urged consumers to buy own-label products instead of branded goods.
However, Gwyn Burr said such campaigns are not simply a case of ‘brand bashing', and that increasing competition is key in the marke.
‘As our customer numbers have grown, our brand products have grown, so Switch and Save have effectively grown both categories,' she said.
Paul Polman claimed that relations between retailers and brand owners are improving.
‘The issues we face are big enough that people realise we can't solve them alone,' said Polman.
‘The increased co-operation between retailers and brands is driven by the customer. Consumer confidence is not going to change, it drives us to make efficiencies.'
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