Morrisons 'has the best own-brand products'

Morrisons has been named the best UK supermarket for own brand products, beating not only discounters Aldi and Lidl but premium priced stores such as Waitrose and Marks and Spencer as well.

Almost half of its own-brand products were named best of their type, compared with just eight percent for Waitrose.

"At Morrisons, one of our key priorities is always to provide our customers with the best products on the market, at affordable everyday low prices that won't break the bank, so it's great to hear that our own brand range has been recognised as providing just that," comments Morrisons head chef Richard Jones.
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Morrisons launched its own-label brand M Savers in 2011, capitalising on the fact that it sources, processes and manufactures most of the fresh food it sells. This, too, meant it was unaffected by the horsemeat scandal, making its own brand products even more appealing to customers.

And when it comes to quality, Morrisons own brand ranges have consistently out-performed the competition. In December, for example,its £3.99 M Signature Jewelled Fruit Christmas Pudding trounced offerings from Harrods and Fortnum & Mason in Which?'s Christmas taste tests.

Which? also recently named Morrisons M Signature Thick Outdoor Bred Pork Sausages as 'the best bangers in Britain', and has also delivered accolades for its own brand vintage cheddar cheese, English breakfast tea and lavender & cotton flower bio gel.

Shoppers once turned their noses up at own-brand products, but are now flocking to buy them, according to a survey from Nielsen. Sales of own-brand products are growing four times as fast the market as a whole, and now account for more than half of all grocery sales.

Six in ten Brits now think they're at least as good as name brands - nearly twice as many as four years ago - and four in ten actually think they're better.

"Britons have a much greater appetite for own-label groceries than shoppers in other markets around the world," says Nielsen's UK head of retailer and business insight, Mike Watkins.

"The growth of 'premium' own-label offerings, which tap into shoppers' increasing unwillingness to compromise over quality, means many own-brands are now a credible alternative for more and more items in today's shopping baskets."

Percentage of own brand products named as the best on the market
1. Morrisons 45%
2. Aldi 27%
3. M&S 23%
4. Co-op 18%
5. Asda 17%
6. Tesco 11%
7. Sainsbury's 10%
8. Lidl 9%
9. Waitrose 8%

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