Aldi and Lidl supermarket chains are increasing their market share in the fresh food sector.
Local shops also register good benefits in that area, according to figures communicated by the Flanders Agricultural and Sea Fisheries Center (VLAM), based on the research office GfK’s data.
Last year, Belgian families spent 11.2 billion euros on fresh food. To buy this type of product, Belgians always go mainly to supermarkets and hypermarkets, the latter obtaining 45% of the market. However, low-price specialists, such as Lidl and Aldi, manage to take an ever-more important place, and their market share is now estimated at 20.6%. Ten years ago, they didn’t reach 15%.
Local shops were quite successful last year. In the fresh-food sector, they now hold as much as 17.2% of the ground. These stores mainly attract clients aged forty plus.
Specialized businesses, such as baker’s, butcher’s or fishmonger’s shops, however, are losing ground in the fresh-food sector. They have gone down from 14 to 9% within ten years. But these small trades resist better in Flanders (13%) than in Walloon (8%) and Brussels (7%).
Fresh products’ purchase online remains marginal, according to the study.
