China's FMCG industry is in a historic transformation cycle. Currently, China's FMCG brands, retail, and distribution channels are undergoing a historic transformation cycle. This is reflected in:

  1. The emergence of numerous new discount retail formats—snack bulk retailers, wholesale supermarkets, traditional hard discount stores with wide categories and narrow SKUs (such as Chaohe Suan, ALDI, Wumart/Zhongbai discount stores, Kuailehou), and shopping mall discount formats (Aotle, Guanpaike, Sansheng);

  2. Distributors face a historic turning point, needing to transform against the backdrop of compressed distribution layers in the industry;

  3. Private brands are developing rapidly, entering a critical inflection point, with more brand owners opening their supply chains to retail enterprises for product customization, achieving positive results. These significant changes are unlike anything we have experienced before. However, we can find clues and inspiration for the industry's cyclical changes and future trends in mature markets. Here, I strongly recommend you take a trip to Europe to learn. Go to Europe! Bring industry problems, bring back solutions Why must you go to Europe to learn? The European market has several characteristics.

  1. Mature private label systems Europe is the most mature market for private labels (PB) globally. Europe's private label penetration rate has reached 39%, with a total scale of 35.4 billion euros. That means on European supermarket shelves, 4 out of 10 products are private label products. The scale of Europe's private label market has been rising in recent years, primarily because Europe has established a very complete private label system. From category architecture, supply chain models, quality and compliance systems, to consumer loyalty, Europe's private label development is very mature.
  2. Extremely developed discount formats Today, the names ALDI and Lidl are well-known. With 1400-2000+ SKUs, they have become global benchmarks for efficient retail by using fewer SKUs to amplify single-product volume, lengthen production batches, and reduce complexity and costs. But besides ALDI and Lidl, Europe has many other successful discount retail formats. For example, Netto and PENNY are discount sub-brands of traditional retail groups. There are also independent discount retailers like Norma and Ladybug supermarkets. It is worth mentioning that Europe also has many non-food discount stores, such as Action and B&M. Overall, Europe's discount retail industry is very similar to China's today, with various formats and store types flourishing.
  3. Intensive retail supply chain systems Another major feature of European retail is the presence of numerous cross-border joint purchasing organizations. Alliances like Eurelec, AMS, and AgeCore help many retail enterprises conduct centralized procurement, signing framework agreements with multinational FMCG companies and PB suppliers to enhance purchasing scale advantages. Additionally, many European retail enterprises adopt an integrated distribution + retail model. EDEKA, REWE, and Metro, for example, use headquarters supply chain companies for centralized procurement and provide wholesale and integrated logistics services to non-system merchants. These supply chain companies serve their own systems while also opening their supply chains externally to increase scale effects.
  4. Retailer-dominated brand ecosystem Europe's brand ecosystem is very similar to China's, with strong channels and relatively weak brands. Many European companies operate a dual-track system of NB + PB, meaning they retain their own brands while also opening surplus capacity to retail enterprises for private label customization. In this process, a large number of private label service providers have emerged, often transformed from original brand owners. At the same time, many well-known global CPG companies like Unilever also operate a dual-track NB + PB system in Europe.
  5. Unique distributor system Today, European FMCG distributor enterprises are highly integrated with retail enterprises, forming an integrated distribution + retail model. Of course, Europe also retains many specialized distributors. For example, SRG in the Netherlands is a service provider for global brands entering the European market. The company's service team speaks 14 languages and can cover all top European retailers, designing RTM strategies based on country and channel characteristics. Bidfood and Brakes are distributors specializing in foodservice and other special channels. There are also voluntary chain suppliers like SPAR. Whether you are a distributor, brand owner, private label factory/service provider, you can go to Europe. I believe you can find answers to current market problems and European solutions. To this end, we have carefully planned a European study tour. From January 9 to January 17, 2026, we will take 30 brand owners, retail owners, and distributor owners to Europe for in-depth study of European retail, distribution, and private labels. We have invited truly scarce people and resources in the industry for open exchanges. Four windows To help you understand European FMCG and retail This is not just a visit itinerary, but a comprehensive industry study. We have selected four key windows into European retail and FMCG: through benchmark enterprises, typical formats, in-depth dialogues, and expert companionship, you can see industry trends from different dimensions and bring back answers.
  6. We will visit two global retail and supply chain giants: ALDI and Edeka. I won't introduce ALDI much; its Chinese version (ALDI) is already well-known. It is one of the world's largest hard discount and retail giants. In Germany, we have invited a former CEO of ALDI to deconstruct ALDI's business logic. I believe this will be of great value to retailers, hard discount practitioners, and brand owners. Edeka is Germany's largest supermarket group, holding the top market share for a long time. Its business scope covers supermarkets and hypermarkets, discount retail, and B2B. It is a typical "retail + wholesale" integrated business model. We will visit Edeka's warehousing and distribution systems and stores, and Edeka management will fully deconstruct its "retail + wholesale" integrated business model.
  7. We will visit more than 20 distinctive European retail formats and deconstruct their store models. This includes ALDI, Lidl, REWE, AHOLD DELHAIZE, EDEKA, PENNY, JUMBO, NETTO, ACTION, ROSSMANN, PLUS, DETAILRESULT, and SPAR. We will conduct a comprehensive examination of various retail formats, including hypermarkets, hard discount stores, convenience stores, and drugstores.
  8. Close exchanges with European distributor peers/private label factory peers. We will visit SRG International in the Netherlands, Martens in Belgium, and MAXIM in Germany, engaging in face-to-face in-depth exchanges with European first-line distributor peers/private label factory bosses to learn from mature market experience and engage in discussions.
  9. Two former ALDI executives will accompany the group throughout the trip. Both teachers, Marc Houppermans and William Snollaerts, are former ALDI Managing Directors and board members. You can have in-depth exchanges with them at any time about market changes and specific operational methods in European retail, distribution, and private labels. Who should go?
  • Retail enterprise owners
  • Hard discount entrepreneurs
  • Brand executives/entrepreneurs
  • Private label service providers/factory owners
  • Local leading distributor owners
  • FMCG supply chain management company founders/CEOs Contact us: