Convenience stores are to see more £1 price-marked packs across the impulse catego­ry, but senior wholesalers have warned retailers will not get the same margin as when they were previ­ously available. Last year, the majority of £1 price-marked packs in the crisps-and-snacks category moved to £1.25 or higher as suppliers attempted to mitigate ongoing cost pressures. Many faced criticisms from wholesalers and re­tailers, who accused them of reducing the margin at the same time.

Speaking to Better Retailing at the Destination 2025 whole­sale conference last week, Unitas Wholesale manag­ing director John Kinney confirmed suppliers had considered reintroducing £1 price-marks on prod­ucts such as crisps and other snacks, but with no consideration for the previous backlash.

“The £1 PMP is returning, but the question is whether that means returning to the previous margins that came with it,” Kinney explained. “A little while ago, all the focus was on pro­tecting the £1 PMP, but suppliers often did that by cutting the margin, and eventually retailers stopped stocking it.”

Reassessing

Another senior whole­sale source told Better Retailing suppli­ers had been reassessing their approach to price-marked products. Unitas dropped Mars Wrigley PMPs over mar­gin squeezes in 2022.

Kinney claimed that suppliers often thought retailers made a signifi­cantly higher margin on their products than is realistic for most stores, and that margin squeezes were a real priority that wholesalers had to take into consideration.

“I’m not saying it’s profiteering from anyone on the suppliers’ side, but margins are a serious concern for retailers at the moment, and we have to reflect that,” he said.

Unitas launched its ‘Local Living’ own-brand range last year, and will be bringing out several lines in the months ahead and at its annual trade show in March. The range was launched to offer a value range to retailers with higher margins.

Unitas non-executive chair Mark Aylwin added that, while the past three years had been “very good for wholesale” with “tre­mendous growth in all sectors”, margin squeezes were more important than ever for wholesalers and retailers in an uncer­tain economic climate.

“We have to push harder and go for those margin gains,” he said.

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