- We have been a producer of products from the Private Label shelf for 12 years. We began cooperation with supermarkets in this sector in 1997 and it lasts till this day successfully.

What caused, that you got interested in production for the Private Label sector for Polish and foreign recipients?

- This is quite a long story... Until the year 1994, the company Rarytas belonged to the Swiss holding OST COM Holding AG, concentrating many foreign companies and 3 Polish companies. The policy of the holding was directed as promoting the largest of Polish companies “ZPC Pomorzanka”, which at the same time limited direct sales of products by our company and caused a loss of any distribution channels and hitherto recipients. The so-called “binding sales” period came.
After announcing the bankruptcy of the holding in 2000, Rarytas Ltd practically didn’t possess any products in its own brand and had to gain the market starting from scratch. The re-introduction into the game of a practically new company was a financial burden that was too big and then, the idea came about to begin production in the Private Label segment. From the perspective of time, I am convinced when I say that this hit the nail on the head.

How important for your company is the production for the sector Private Label for Polish and foreign recipients?

- Production for the Private Label sector is just as important as the production for the remaining distribution channel. We control the profitability of sales under private label in the same way as in the producer brand, and thanks to these different channels of distribution we reach completely different customers on the market, which at the same times allows us for a significantly wider range of distribution for our goods.

Does the production of own brands make up your primary production activity, or is it rather marginal?

- At the moment, it is neither the primary production nor marginal. Generally, the powers of our production activity are divided more or less evenly into Private Label and the producer’s brand. This is due to the fact, that the traditional sales channel, which are warehouses, trade with a completely different form of goods, than the supermarkets cooperating with us.

What changes in previous years have you observed on the Private Label market in Poland and abroad? What are your forecasts for this market?

- A few years ago, customers did not really know what is hidden under the name Private Label and they needed to be convinced to own brands. However, our society belongs to a group of the economical, and here, the Private Label sector has been checked out fantastically. Despite information sometimes appearing, that the low price of own brand products of supermarkets is “thanks to” their poor quality, we can see that the speed of increase on these goods is at least two times higher than the increase of brand name products. The customer should have guarantee that in buying the product from the Private Label sector, he is buying a product, which is equally valuable to that bought under the brand of a private producer, and its lower price results from the substantially higher buying power of supermarkets. I think that in the future, further increase in sales should be expected in the Private Label sector; and I shall quote from a book by K. Lincoln and L. Thomassen, that “private labels in the character of a messenger” should be used, “which will not only show, that excellent quality and price is being offered, but above all, that it really cares about the customer and his long-term social needs”.

What kind of recipients do you direct your Private Label offer to and what products can be found in it?

- The target group of our products is very large; however, it can be divided into clients from 25 to 40 years old and children and person over 50 years old.  The products belonging to the group of salty snacks, that is crackers, are directed at both women and men, but with emphasis on men, because the cracker is strictly connected with beer and treated as a substitute for chips. Our remaining products – biscuits and cookies are directed at children, women and people over 50 years old.

Are you planning to expand the offer of these products by other positions, if so what are they?

- At the moment, about 20 different Private Label products can be found in chains; however, we also sell products there under our brand.  Of course we will be expanding our offer, because that’s what customers expect from us. Unfortunately, I cannot give away exactly what the products will be, because then it would not be a surprise. I can only say that they will be goods with recipes based only on natural ingredients, without additives and conservatives, in order to keep up our tradition.

What chains do you cooperate with?

- Among others, we cooperate with JMD, Tesco, Kaufland, Lidl, Auchan, Polomarket, SCA PR Polska, EKO Holding, Tradis.

How do you assess the quality of products from the Private Label segment? Are there significant differences between own brand products and original products?

- I cannot speak about this issue on behalf of other producers and their policy, I can only guarantee our customers, that all products sold under Private Labels do not have separate recipes, therefore, their quality is just as high as the products under a producer’s brand. Proof of this are the certificates obtained by us: IFS, BRC and ISO 9001: 2000. Our factory goes through numerous controls, which have not questioned the quality of our products. We believe that producing goods of worse quality will sooner or later cause the bad perception of the producer’s brand.

What are your plans in relation to this segment for the following years?

- We are going to continue developing in the direction of Private Label and we hope that we shall take advantage of the chances that cooperation in this segment is giving us.

Thank you.
Tomasz Masal