Analysis of the top selling soft drinks, confectionery and snack lines shows that only 16.4% of price-marked packs (PMPs) lacked a non-PMP variety, compared with 32.9% at Bestway and 35.6% at Booker.

Responding to the research, Nisa told Better Retailing: “Our offer gives retailers the freedom to choose the lines they want, but also to set their own prices. This enables our partners to operate as entrepreneurs, in a way that best suits their business.”

Better Retailing previously reported that shop owners were removing PMP varieties to protect margins.

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In response to this, Chris Herring, of Londis Shiphay Torquay, added that he had challenged Booker on the issue. “Suppliers have got a stranglehold over retailers, it’s always the same products that are price-marked,” he said.

Across the three wholesalers, PepsiCo had the lowest choice, with 57.1% of PMPs having no non-PMP equivalent.

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Oppositely, Coca-Cola and Lucozade Ribena Suntory had the lowest percentage of PMP with no non-PMP equivalent, at 2.4% and 16.7% respectively. 

LRS channel director Matt Gouldsmith told Better Retailing the company’s decision to provide both helped retailers “make the right choice for their store”.

There were large variations between wholesalers. With Mondelez products, half of PMP lines had no non-PMP variety at Booker, compared with 20% at Nisa. 

Mondelez trade communications manager Susan Nash confirmed to Better Retailing that it offers customers PMP and non-PMP options.