The theme for PLMA’s (Private label Manufacturers Association) 2008 Roundtable Conference, to be held at the Hilton Brussels in Belgium from February 27 to 28, has been announced.

This year’s roundtable conference will discuss the theme - Living with brands: on the shelf and inside your own company - and will focus on how private label and A-brands co-exist within the industry.

Speakers at the event, who will include IGD’s Karen Bevan, Antonella Mei-Pochtler of Boston Consulting and director of International Private Label Consult, Koen de Jong, will examine the private label issues for both retailers and manufacturers from different perspectives.

Brian Sharoff, PLMA president, said: “Years ago, when A-brands dominated most national markets in Europe, questions about the relationship [between retailer and manufacturer brands] were seldom asked. But now the growth of private label - it accounts for more than one of every three products sold in six western European countries - is causing retailers and suppliers alike to take a new look at how private label and A-brands can live together.”

The roundtable conference will also look at the new EU regulations and their impact on private label, as well as new consumer research on shopping behaviour. In addition to the conference, attendees will visit leading supermarket and hypermarket formats in Belgium.

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