Not everything in the stores is Bimbo bread or Sabritas fritters. The owner of a store in Los Remedios, Naucalpan, known as Doña Ana, offers in her shop churros in packets and dried fruit that her neighbor leaves on consignment. She also sells homemade bread and tortillas that she makes at a local market in her neighborhood, and which are one of the products that her customers look for the most.
For a couple of months, the small merchant stopped buying cream, cheese and sausage in wholesale stores, to make way for those of a producer from Hidalgo, who came to his store to offer these goods that he prepares at home.
These ‘own brands’ have become an option for buyers, who are looking for more accessible alternatives in the face of the general rise in product prices.
Sweet bread and dairy products are two categories that have registered price increases. Bread rose 12.11% between December last year and June 2022, while cream and other milk-based products increased 7.99%, according to Inegi data.
“The situation is not to spend and what we do is give customers options, that if they see that there are the same cheaper products even if they do not have a well-known brand, then they take those that allow them to save a few pesos,” says the shopkeeper .
Cuauhtémoc Rivera, president of the National Alliance of Small Merchants (ANPEC), comments that the item in which there are more ‘mirror brands’ or ‘own brands’ is snacks, which usually have the label printed on cardboard , packaged in a cellophane bag, in order to prove to buyers that they have a greater quantity at a lower price compared to those of well-known brands.
“These are emerging brands that seek to position themselves among the preferences of consumers because they are cheaper,” says Rivera. “Many people in the popular market are directing their consumption to bulk units and generics. They look for these presentations because they are more affordable and they allow them to better manage consumption at home”, he adds.
From store to store
After losing his job due to the pandemic and as an option to generate income, Juan began baking sweet bread at home, and began selling it at the store that is on his street, in the Peralvillo neighborhood.
The flavor of their shells, pancakes, and biscuits won over the store’s customers, who began to order their product. His popularity spread so much that he now places his merchandise in different stores in the colony.
“I don’t know if it was luck. I got into baking classes because I didn’t have much to do without thinking it was going to become my job. And I also like it, because everyone in the neighborhood already knows me and they have even made me large orders for when the family gets together for coffee,” says Juan.
For now, there is no data to determine what percentage of a store’s revenue these products represent, since the local brands they sell vary in number and products, which complicates their quantification.
“Doña Ana” says that she does not have a calculation, but as of January, she has noticed that people who buy at her store seek to “give their money” and ask about the brand options to buy the one that costs less.
