Mercadona quality under scrutiny: what's wrong with Hacendado

Mercadona is no longer a given: the battle over Hacendado's quality

Juan Roig's chain built its leadership on blind trust in its own-label brand. But consumers no longer agree: while some keep defending the green-label mayonnaise and its value for money, others claim the myth has deflated. Who is right? The data from real consumption is on the table.

Two camps that never meet

The main divide separates those who shop at Mercadona out of conviction and those who do so out of habit. The former highlight specific products that hold up against leading brands: the mayonnaise, the milk, the ribs and even the acorn-fed jamón at 53 euros a kilo. The latter complain about ever-poorer average quality, packaging that hides less content and prices that no longer pay off against the competition.

There is no shortage of analyses from apps like Yuka that debunk supposed gems like the mayonnaise, flagged for failing to meet the standards of an artisanal product. The argument repeats itself: the supermarket calculates profitability to the cent and it shows in the ingredients.

The sliding manufacturer trick

Perhaps the most valuable finding of this review is the supplier pattern. The same package can hide different manufacturers every few months. The most cited case is the turrón ice cream that changed producer within five months and multiplied complaints. In snacks and crisps, the rotation shortens to eight months.

The consequence is a silent erosion of trust: the consumer finds their favourite product, comes back for it and discovers it is no longer the same. Hacendado becomes a shifting promise.

The comparison that hurts

Against Mercadona, other chains offer alternatives some consider superior: El Corte Inglés's selection, Viuda de Cayo's asparagus at Alcampo or Irish grass-fed butter at Lidl. Some also point out that Esclat has the same prices with a wider range.

The aesthetic critique spares no one either: the new packaging with no product name, just drawings, recalls a Soviet ration store. The express shopping experience, of not having to think, has ceased to be a virtue and become a symptom of an impoverished offering.

The result is a market where the old maxim "if it's from Mercadona, it's good" no longer holds up on its own. There are still gems, but they take some finding. And no one quite explains why the perception of declining quality has not yet translated into a mass exodus of customers.