Trends in Retail Competition: Private Labels, Brands and Competition Policy

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

Fourth Symposium on Trends in Retail Competition: Private Labels, Brands and Competition Policy

Tuesday 20 May 2008 12h30
Venue: St Catherine's College Mary Sunley Room
Organised by Centre for Competition Law & Policy

Private label is a growing force across Europe, present in most categories and providing a range of choice for shoppers from the value to the premium. These private label portfolios contribute to competition between retailers, differentiating one retailer from another and building store loyalty.

At the same time, the growing sophistication of private label is increasing competition with branded goods suppliers, and the rule of thumb that private labels are cheaper than brands is no longer always true.

This symposium, hosted by the Oxford Institute of European and Comparative Law in conjunction with the Centre for Competition Law and Policy and sponsored by the law firm Bristows, will explore the role of private labels in competition between retailers and between suppliers. It will consider the implications for suppliers when an important retail customer is also a major competitor and the issues posed when the retail customer has buyer power.

Programme:

12h30 Buffet lunch

13h30 Session 1
Chair - Professor Ulf Bernitz, Oxford/Stockholm Wallenberg Venture

13h45  Branded and private label product trends in European grocery markets
Patrick Falgas, Information Resources

14h10 The UK Competition Commission’s groceries investigation and the implications for competition between branded and private label products
Bob Young, Europe Economics

14h40 Member States’ approach to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the impact on misleading packaging
Guiseppe Abbamonte, DG Sanco, European Commission

15h00 Coffee break

15h30 Buying alliances: what parameters are set by competition law?
Andres Font Galarza, Mayer Brown

15h50 Competition between branded and private label products: current policy and recent cases
Franco Guariglia, Barilla

16h10 United States competition law policy – the private label experience
Jeff Schmidt, United States Federal Trade Commission BR>

16h40 Roundtable discussion

18h00 Drinks Reception

Programme and Registration Form are available here (Acrobat PDF file)