French retailer Auchan has confirmed plans to place almost all its 300 supermarkets in France under the Intermarché and Netto banners, making Intermarché its largest franchise partner. This means Auchan will keep ownership of the stores and staff, but the shops will operate day-to-day as Intermarché or Netto supermarkets, following their commercial strategy, pricing, sourcing and store concepts. Effectively, these Auchan outlets will “become” Intermarché or Netto stores while still belonging to Auchan.

Subject to competition-authority approval, the transition is expected by late 2026. Auchan will create a separate legal entity to run the franchised stores, while Intermarché will take responsibility for product supply, merchandising standards and inventory management. According to Guillaume Darrasse, CEO of Auchan Retail, the move allows the supermarkets to “immediately benefit” from Intermarché’s strong price positioning—critical in France’s increasingly aggressive value-driven market.

The private label share across 17 countries in Europe is growing according to data from NielsenIQ. The value share grew to 384bn€, or 38.7% of the market based on MAT W40 2025 (+0.28%pnt versus MAT W40 2024). NielsenIQ surveyed 17 markets for PLMA’s 2025 International Private Label Market update and noticed an increase for retail brands in 12 out of the 17 countries. 

European markets remain some of the biggest private label markets globally, 12 markets have a private label share position above 30%, and 8 markets are above 40% of Private Label share.

The highest growth countries in private label share are Spain (+1.1%pnt), Austria (+0.7%pnt), The Netherlands (+0.5%pnt), and Poland (+0.5%pnt). The country with the highest share across the 17 countries tracked is Switzerland. The share of Switzerland is 52.3%, which makes it the only country with a share higher than 50%.

Nine leading French retailers – including E.Leclerc, Carrefour, Auchan, Les Mousquetaires, U, Casino, Lidl, and Metro– have formally joined the Open Climat platform, a shared system designed to collect and standardise suppliers’ product-level carbon data. The initiative, backed by the French Federation of Commerce and Distribution (FCD) and Perifem, received approval from the French Competition Authority at the end of October, clearing the way for a national roll-out.

For retailers and manufacturers alike, the focus is Scope 3 emissions, which account for more than 96% of the consumer sector’s climate impact. By pooling data through an independent third party, Open Climat aims to accelerate decarbonisation and ensure consistent, scientifically validated reporting across the industry. A formal Stakeholder Committee – bringing together key manufacturing federations such as ANIA, FEEF, Ilec and others – has been created to guarantee transparency, safeguard competitive neutrality and oversee platform governance.

Grocery-retail apps have shifted from being convenient add-ons to becoming core tools that shape modern shopping behaviour. Recent insights from NielsenIQ (NIQ) show that apps are increasingly central to how consumers plan, save, and purchase — a trend accelerated by ongoing economic uncertainty and rising living costs. In this environment, shoppers value transparency and control, and digital tools help them manage budgets more effectively.

Adoption continues to rise across Europe. NIQ’s Consumer Panel reports that around two-thirds of German households now use at least one retailer app, with coupon activation remaining the most popular function. These digital incentives are not merely promotional extras: they influence store choice, encourage larger basket sizes, and increase purchase frequency. Heavy app users generate significantly more “big trolley” shops than non-users.

The EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that non-alcoholic drinks cannot be described or labelled as “gin”, confirming that the term is reserved exclusively for spirit drinks made from ethyl alcohol, flavoured with juniper, and containing at least 37.5% ABV.

The case centred on a German challenge to a product marketed as Virgin Gin Alkoholfrei. The manufacturer argued the name clearly signalled its alcohol-free status, but judges ruled that adding “non-alcoholic” does not make the use of “gin” permissible under EU law. The product can remain on sale, but only under a new name.

This follows the EU’s decision last month to prohibit the use of key “meaty” terms for describing plant-based versions of certain foods.