Market overview
A large retail market for packaged food and beverage, but behind in terms of e-commerce sales of these products.
E-commerce channel share in Packaged Food is considerably less developed than other European markets such as the United Kingdom (9.7%) and France (7.1%).
German imports of Canadian maple syrup surpassed $24 million in 2018, second only to the United States.
German competitive landscape in packaged food and beverage has least market concentration in terms of share of five largest companies.
| Metric | Value | Rank (of 10) |
|---|---|---|
| Total Packaged Food and Beverage Market in 2020 | Can$207.7 billion | 4th |
| E-commerce Channel Size of Total Packaged Food and Beverage in 2020 | Can$3.4 billion | 7th |
| E-commerce Channel Share of Total Packaged Food and Beverage in 2020 | 1.7% | 8th |
| Size of Canadian Packaged Food and Beverage Imports in 2018 | Can$ 178 million | 8th |
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| Category | Category total | E-commerce | E-commerce share of category total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packaged Food | $133.7 | $1.4 | 1.0% |
| Non-Alcoholic Beverages | $33.8 | $0.7 | 2.0% |
| Alcoholic Drinks | $31.6 | $0.7 | 2.3% |
| Pet Food | $5.6 | $0.6 | 11.5% |
Source: Euromonitor International
Leading import and e-commerce product categories
| Product Category | Imports from Canada (2018, Can$ million) | Historic CAGR* (2014-2018) |
|---|---|---|
| Processed Fruits and Vegetables | $64.1 | 9.1% |
| Syrups and Sweeteners | $31.6 | 11.1% |
| Processed Meat and Seafood | $27.1 | −7.4% |
| Pet Food | $15.6 | −0.5% |
| Ready Meals | $14.3 | 19.1% |
| *CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate | ||
| Product Category | E-commerce Channel Sales (2020, Can$ million) | Share of E-commerce of all distribution (2020) | Historic E-commerce CAGR* (2015-2020) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pet Food | $644.1 | 11.5% | 15.4% |
| Wine | $429.9 | 4.8% | 28.0% |
| Ready Meals | $277.3 | 3.6% | 32.8% |
| Dairy | $264.1 | 0.9% | 31.8% |
| Processed Meat and Seafood | $231.5 | 1.1% | 10.2% |
| *CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate | |||
Industry split of packaged food and beverage e-commerce channel sales in Germany (2020)
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| Category | Packaged food and beverage e-commerce channel sales in Germany |
|---|---|
| Packaged Food | 41% |
| Non-Alcoholic Beverages | 20% |
| Alcoholic Drinks | 20% |
| Pet Food | 19% |
| Total | Can$3.4 billion |
Six product categories exceeded Can$200 million in e-commerce value sales in Germany.
| Product Category | Value of Canadian imports by France (Can$ million) | E-commerce channel sales Can$ million | E-commerce channel share (%) of all distribution channels in 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beer | 1.1 | 70.4 | 0.6% |
| Wine | 0.8 | 430.0 | 4.8% |
| Spirits | 9.1 | 265.0 | 3.4% |
| Carbonates and Bottled Water | 0.2 | 141.3 | 1.3% |
| Hot Drinks | 0.1 | 328.3 | 3.3% |
| Juice | 2.9 | 33.6 | 1.0% |
| Pet Food | 15.6 | 644.1 | 11.5% |
| Processed Meat and Seafood | 27.1 | 231.5 | 1.1% |
| Processed Fruits and Vegetables | 64.1 | 117.9 | 2.9% |
| Ready Meals/ Food Preparations | 14.3 | 277.3 | 3.6% |
| Snack Foods | 0.5 | 36.6 | 0.6% |
| Syrups and Sweeteners | 31.6 | 46.8 | 0.7% |
| Source: Euromonitor International (e-commerce channel sales) and UN Comtrade (Canadian import data) | |||
Sector snapshot
Packaged food
Before COVID-19, Germans were slow to adopt e-commerce, preferring to purchase groceries quickly on the way home, mainly because they value choosing fresh foods themselves. In 2020, interest in e-commerce rose as COVIDS-19 forced consumers to seek convenient and safer shopping options from their home.
Dinner meal kits in particular will continue to gain in popularity and play an increasingly important role within ready meals. The pandemic put a spotlight on foods that promote health and immunity, which will drive sales of processed fruits and vegetables.
Non-alcoholic beverages
During the onset of COVID-19, stockpiling behavior boosted sales of bottled water, coffee, tea and juice in 2020. Juice experienced a resurgence as it moved from being seen as a rather unhealthy, high-sugar beverage to one offering high vitamin content and potential immune system-enhancing benefits.
More consumers used the e-commerce platforms of grocery retailers such as Rewe Markt's to order non-alcoholic beverages and avail themselves of delivery or click-and-collect services.
Alcoholic drinks
Germany is the 5th largest international market for spirits by volume sold through e-commerce, having multiple pure play alcoholic drinks websites including MySpirits.eu, UrbanDrinks.de and Whisky.de. Both Flaschenpost, a provider of at-home alcohol delivery with a 2-hour delivery window, and Hawesko, the leading wine e-commerce site, saw a boost in sales in 2020 as consumers remained cautious about socializing at on-trade establishments when they reopened.
Pet food
Dominated by the pure player Zooplus, e-commerce continues to become an increasingly popular channel in pet care, notably due to its convenience for bulky purchases in dry cat and dog food and as a result of aggressive price promotions.
Manufacturers are also increasingly developing their own e-commerce platforms in order to sell directly, and to collect more data about their customers, notably by offering subscription models. Premiumization continues to drive value growth, notably with a focus on natural ingredients and clean labels.
Industry dynamics and opportunities
E-commerce size and growth
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| Market | 2015 | 2020 | Historic CAGR* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packaged Food | $598 | $1,382 | 17.1% |
| Non-Alcoholic Beverages | $383 | $668 | 10.7% |
| Alcoholic Drinks | $266 | $684 | 25.5% |
| Pet Food | $301 | $644 | 15.4% |
| *CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate | |||
Source: Euromonitor International
Competitive environment
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| Category | All Other Companies | Top 5 Companies |
|---|---|---|
| Packaged Food | 90% | 10% |
| Non-Alcoholic Beverages | 70% | 30% |
| Alcoholic Drinks | 70% | 30% |
| Pet Food | 52% | 48% |
Source: Euromonitor International
Key e-commerce websites
| Rank (SKUs[1] on Via) | Packaged Food | Non-Alcoholic Beverages | Alcoholic Drinks | Pet Food |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon (20.6k thousand SKUs) | Amazon (30.9 thousand) | Amazon (15.7 thousand) | Amazon (14.1 thousand) |
| 2 | Bringmeister (6.0 thousand) | Bengmeister (1.8 thousand) | Real (7.6 thousand) | Miscota (11.5 thousand) |
| 3 | Mytime.de (4.1 thousand) | Rewe (1.6 thousand) | Rewe (1.6 thousand) | Zooplus (7.9 thousand) |
| 4 | Rewe (2.4 thousand) | Mytime.de (0.7 thousand) | Hawesko (1.4 thousand) | Fressnapf (5.3 thousand) |
| 5 | Edeka (2.4 thousand) | Edeka (0.5 thousand) | Bringmeister (1.4 thousand) | New Pharma (0.8 thousand) |
|
1: SKU data comes from Euromonitor International's proprietary Via data extraction tool, and was extracted in March 2021 |
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Key highlights for Canadian producers
Packaged food
Ready meals are the largest category for e-commerce channel share (3.6%) and sales ($277 million) in Germany, with historic channel CAGR of 31.6% (2015 to 2020).
Non-alcoholic beverages
From 2021 to 2025, consumers are increasingly likely to make orders via specialist websites for hot drinks, where they will find coffee available in bigger packs and access to more specialist products as well as fair trade and organic coffees and teas.
Alcoholic drinks
Retail spirits sales remained aligned with pre-pandemic predictions, with strong growth projected for gin and whiskey. Consumers in Germany spent more than Can$20 million on Canadian whisky in 2020, but demand has been flat over the past five years.
Pet food
Demand for more nutritious pet food, particularly recipes with high meat content, is increasing. Treats are expected to experience the strongest growth and are increasingly seen as an integral part of a pet's diet.