“People buy because of emotions, and then they justify rationally.”
That idea sat at the center of my conversation with Paolo Bonsignore, Commercial Director at Coop Italian Food, during World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, and honestly, it reframed how I think about private label strategy.
For years, private label has largely been treated as a pricing tool. A way to improve margins, create leverage against national brands, and fill shelf space with cheaper alternatives.
But according to Paolo, that era is over.
Today, the retailers winning in private label are the ones building brands consumers actually connect with emotionally.
And in Coop Italian Food’s case, they are doing it at scale.
Beyond “Me Too” Private Label
One of the strongest ideas Paolo shared was that retailers have historically underestimated the power of their own banner brands.
Consumers already trust retailers far more than many companies realize, especially after COVID reinforced the role retailers played in people’s everyday lives.
That trust creates an opportunity.
Instead of using private label as a copycat alternative to national brands, Coop approaches it as a way to create unique category experiences consumers cannot find elsewhere.
“The era of the me too is long gone.”
Rather than offering one generic private label coffee option, Coop created multiple differentiated coffee brands built around entirely different consumer entry points.
Some focus on origin.
Some focus on intensity.
Others focus on grinding styles or preparation methods.
The result is a shelf experience that feels exploratory instead of transactional.
Consumers are not being pushed toward private label because it is cheaper.
They are engaging with it because it feels curated, interesting, and emotionally relevant.
Packaging Is No Longer Functional
That shift completely changes the role packaging plays in retail.
According to Paolo, packaging is now one of the most important emotional touchpoints in private label because retailers cannot realistically support dozens of brands through traditional advertising spend.
The packaging becomes the marketing.
And this is where Coop believes many retailers still think too operationally.
Retailers often approach packaging through a buyer mindset focused on efficiency, cost optimization, and speed. But that mindset creates functional packaging, not emotional packaging.
“Selling well is more important than buying well.”
That distinction matters.
The retailers creating stronger private label programs are designing packaging around emotional response, visual storytelling, and perceived care.
Paolo gave a simple but fascinating example using cereal packaging.
Many brands reuse identical product imagery across flavors with only small adjustments. Coop instead creates dedicated imagery for each variation because consumers subconsciously interpret that attention to detail as care and authenticity.
Over time, those tiny signals compound into trust.
AI and Neuroscience Are Changing Packaging Development
One of the most interesting parts of the conversation was how Coop Italian Food is combining neuroscience and AI to accelerate packaging feedback and product development.
According to Paolo, retailers can now submit packaging concepts into AI-powered systems and receive emotional-response feedback within seconds.
That dramatically changes the speed of iteration.
Instead of waiting weeks or months to evaluate whether packaging resonates emotionally, teams can rapidly test concepts, refine them, and improve creative direction in near real time.
Importantly, Paolo does not see AI as replacing creative thinking.
He sees it as an accelerator.
“If you use this tool with old logic, you will probably maximize the old logic.”
That line stood out because it applies far beyond private label.
AI does not automatically create differentiation.
It amplifies the strategy and thinking already underneath it.
Retailers using AI purely for optimization may simply create faster versions of uninspiring private label.
Retailers using AI to deepen storytelling, emotional connection, and customer understanding could create entirely different shelf experiences.
Why Italy Creates a Different Private Label Perspective
Another fascinating piece of the conversation was hearing how Coop Italian Food supports retailers around the world by sourcing authentic Italian products and consulting on private label strategy.
Italy’s food ecosystem is incredibly fragmented and specialized.
As Paolo joked, there are “four pasta producers per kilometer.”
For international retailers, navigating that supplier landscape can be overwhelming across certifications, production quality, language barriers, and operational complexity.
Coop essentially acts as both sourcing expert and strategic advisor, helping retailers build stronger private label assortments while leveraging authentic Italian manufacturing and category expertise.
That model has become increasingly valuable as retailers search for more differentiated product offerings consumers cannot easily compare on price alone.
The Bottom Line
One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that private label is evolving from a margin strategy into a branding strategy.
And branding requires emotion.
Consumers do not build loyalty to products because they are functional.
They build loyalty because products feel trustworthy, differentiated, thoughtful, or culturally relevant.
That applies just as much to retailer-owned brands as it does to national brands.
The retailers that understand that shift and build private label programs around emotional engagement instead of pure efficiency are going to create much stronger long-term differentiation.
To catch more conversations from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, follow Omni Talk Retail on LinkedIn or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you to Vusion for supporting Omni Talk Retail’s live coverage from Berlin.
Be careful out there,
Chris Walton and the Omni Talk team
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Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.