Private labels thrive as consumer acceptance soars

Dubai is establishing itself as the gateway to this lucrative market and will host over 3000 trade buyers and decision makers at next month's Private Label Middle East-Dubai 2006 exhibition, the region's only event dedicated to private label and contract manufacturing.

According to the latest market analysis by AC Nielsen, private label sales in the region are growing at double the rate of branded counterparts and now account for 17 per cent of goods sold.

"Supermarket grocery sales are leading the trend with private labels now representing more than 15 per cent of turnover," says Justin Justin Boutros, managing director of Channels Exhibitions organizers of PLME-Dubai 2006.

"And with the rapid expansion of supermarket and hypermarket space across the region, private label producers can't afford to ignore the opportunities on offer."

More than 80 exhibitors from 21 countries will be appearing at the show, taking place over September 17-19 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Italy, Germany, and Turkey will have national pavilions, with groups and individual companies representing the Sri Lanka, Finland, Croatia, Cyprus, India, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Jordan, Ukraine, Syria, Taiwan, Egypt, China, Kuwait Malaysia and UAE based manufacturers.

Visitors from at least 70 countries are expected, with the main focus on food and beverage, health and beauty, stationery, and paper and plastic products.

The soaring growth in contract manufacturing also reflects increasing consumer acceptance and demand of private labels.

A recent global study by AC Nielsen found that 69 per cent of consumers rated private label goods as excellent value for the money, with 62 percent considering their quality to be at least as good as proprietary brands.

Nielsen says that generic offerings, coupled with aggressive price positioning, have evolved to become almost equivalent in quality and closer in pricing in the minds of consumers.
Over the last 17 years, Channels Exhibitions has successfully organized specialized international trade fairs which have successfully catered to local and regional industry requirements.

"The region is experiencing an economic boom in the wake of sustained high oil prices and this is having a ripple effect on events like PLME Dubai-2006," says Boutros.

"Dubai's strategic location as a global hub gives it strong influence in the development of the private label business, and this influence is evident in the growth trends reported by our exhibitors and by researchers such as AC Nielsen."