By Xolile Bhengu

Milk, poultry, canned fish, paper and household products are the best sellers in private label or no-name brand goods, but many more basic goods are catching up with branded products.

Experts said on Sunday that South Africans were buying no-name brand products because prices were competitive and their quality had improved over the years.

A recent AC Nielsen study showed Pick ’n Pay house brands – which have been in the market for more than three decades – as the most widely recognised in the market, with 79% of respondents being aware of the brands.

According to Pick ’n Pay, house brands represent about 17% of total sales globally, while locally they represent 11%.

Pick ’n Pay spokesperson Tamra Veley said: “Consumers are better informed and are open to trying new brands and to changing brands.”

National Consumer Forum chairperson Thami Bolani said they had seen an increase in preference for no-name or house brands. “People don’t eat a brand, they eat the product.

“Considering the poverty levels in South Africa, a lot of purchases are informed by price. People in the lower income market will buy no-name products because they are cheaper.”

Bolani said branded products, although still regarded as superior, were not necessarily an assurance of value for money.

He said the organisation encouraged people to look at the list of contents to make a decision and always to look for the South African Bureau of Standards mark for quality assurance.

“It was expected that locally-made products would do better than imported goods, but we are seeing a trend as well of people buying more Chinese food products, because they are more price competitive.”

Fast Moving Goods direct managing director, Craig Ballantyne said that private label retailing was underdeveloped locally.

However, he said retailers were shaking off the image of no-name branding being substandard and would continue to market these brands more aggressively.