Shoppers in Spain can cut a basket by more than half by switching to own-brand

Shoppers in Spain who stick with big brand names for the same 17 everyday items are paying €54, while those who pick the supermarket’s own label spend about €26. The gap is widest in the bathroom aisle, where branded shampoo costs more than nine times as much per litre. Here’s where shoppers can save most in Spain’s supermarkets by choosing their own branded products. 

Shampoo costs 861 per cent more with a big name on the bottle

A basket of 17 everyday items can cost approximately €54 when every product is a big brand, but just around €26 when each one is the supermarket’s own label, known in Spain as marca blanca. That’s a €28 difference on a single shop, and it means switching cuts the bill by over half, according to an online price comparison of Mercadona, Dia, Carrefour, Alcampo and Aldi. 

Shampoo is the real eye-opener, with branded bottles averaging €12.48 a litre against just €1.30 for the own-label version, which works out at 861 per cent more for the name on the label.

Items like shower gel and face cleansers also aren’t far behind at €4.99 a litre against €1.18, while liquid laundry detergent costs about 25 cents a wash from a big name and just over seven cents from the supermarket’s own range.

Some items barely change, whilst others skyrocket

The saving isn’t the same on every shelf. Strained tomatoes are 186 per cent dearer when branded, pasta 161 per cent and sandwich bread 152 per cent, while dried lentils come in at €4.22 a kilo against €1.76. 

Cooking oil is next, with extra virgin olive oil 55 per cent dearer and sunflower oil 48 per cent if you’re going for the branded pick. Semi-skimmed milk costs 35 per cent more at €1.13 a litre against 84 cents, though sugar is only 3 per cent dearer at €1.06 a kilo against €1.03.

Overall, the gap is smallest on basics like sugar and milk and biggest in the household and hygiene aisle. Now, the full 17-item list isn’t published, so the saving on a shop made up mainly of food could be smaller. The consumer watchdog OCU puts own-brand groceries at about 21 per cent cheaper than big brands on average, as EWN reported in September.

Carrefour edges Mercadona on the cheapest own-label basket

Which supermarket you pick matters far less than whether you buy own-label at all. A separate 14-product own-brand basket, available at all five chains, costs approximately €39.54 at Carrefour, €39.77 at Mercadona, €40.07 at Dia, €40.85 at Alcampo and €46.32 at Aldi.

That puts Carrefour just 23 cents ahead of Mercadona, with Aldi €6.78 dearer than the cheapest. It’s not a massive gap, and it’s a different basket from the 17 items discussed above when you add in toiletries and other one-offs, so the totals can’t be compared directly, and these are also online prices, which can vary by shop, postcode, promotions and availability.

So before the next big shop, it’s worth swapping the shampoo, shower gel and washing liquid first, because that’s where the gaps are biggest, then trying own-label pasta, tomato and bread.