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UK Consumers starting to choose healthy products.
Oxford, UK, 1st March 2006
The fastest growing grocery brands in Britain are those that claim health benefits, according to the latest Top 100 Grocery Brands 2005 Report from Checkout magazine and ACNielsen.
The annual survey of grocery sales shows that a large and increasing proportion of growth across supermarkets, impulse stores and independent retailers is being generated by shoppers opting for products they perceive to be healthier, such as juice, water and probiotic yogurt.
Eleni Nicholas, group managing director of ACNielsen UK, who compiles the data and insight, said: “If I were to summarise the trends across most categories they would be: health and wellness, premium/ indulgence and convenience – all driven by changing consumer lifestyles. If marketers can address all three areas by developing a healthy, convenient and indulgent product, then they will undoubtedly have a recipe for success and real growth.”
Fiona Briggs, editor of Checkout magazine, which publishes the list, said: “This trend is reflected across a range of categories. In soft drinks, for example, it is brands such as Actimel, Tropicana, Volvic and Evian that are selling well.” Danone’s probiotic Actimel drink, the fastest growing brand in the last survey, has continued to rise rapidly, increasing by around 26% in 2005; it is now Britain’s 41st largest brand. Actimel’s new sister product Activia, a yogurt based on the same probiotic principles, sits just outside the top 100 list with sales growth of just under 70%.
“In hot beverages meanwhile, the major tea and coffee brands have focused on premium, decaf and reduced caffeine products and this shows up in this year’s growth figures.”
Marketing to the healthy eating market has benefited the leading bread brands, three of which, Warburtons, Hovis and Kingsmill, make the top 10 sales ranking once again this year. The Warburtons brand, which last year launched several new products including the prebiotic loaf ‘Healthy Inside’, saw a 13.5% increase and is now second only to Coca-Cola in terms of overall sales.
Petit Filous (up almost 23%), Uncle Ben’s rice (21%), Tropicana (14%), Flora (8%), Heinz Baked Beans (7%) and Weetabix (6%) are among the well-established brands enjoying growth as a result of their healthy attributes.
However, many of the country’s most indulgent brands have also performed well. Aero, for instance, was the fastest growing brand in 2005, with almost 33% additional sales on 2004, though it could be argued that its’ success is in part due to being positioned as a lighter chocolate. Galaxy, which launched the Promises sub-brand last year, showed 11% growth. McCoy’s crisps meanwhile, outperformed the savoury snacks market with sales growth of 16%, making it the 70th largest brand.
Leading grocery brands within the Top 100 by % growth
| |
Brand |
2005 |
2004 |
Growth |
| 1 |
Aero |
£66.4m |
£50m |
32.8% |
| 2 |
Bakers Petfood |
£64.4m |
£49.7m |
29.7% |
| 3 |
Actimel |
£116.3m |
£92.4m |
25.9% |
| 4 |
Cathedral City |
£95.6m |
£77.7m |
23.1% |
| 5 |
Petit Filous |
£76.5m |
£62.4m |
22.6% |
| 6 |
Uncle Ben’s Rice |
£68.5m |
£56.6m |
21% |
| 7 |
Bold |
£151.2m |
£126.2m |
19.8% |
| 8 |
Volvic |
£130m |
£110.5m |
17.6% |
| 9 |
Ginsters Savoury Pastries |
£79m |
£67m |
16.4% |
| 10 |
McCoy’s Crisps |
£79.1m |
£68.1m |
16.1% |
Top grocery brands overall by sales
|
Brand |
2005 |
2004 |
Change |
| 1 |
Coca-Cola |
£892.5m |
£878.6m |
1.6% |
| 2 |
Warburtons |
£436.1m |
£384.4m |
13.5% |
| 3 |
Walkers Crisps |
£408m |
£436.6m |
-6.6% |
| 4 |
Cadbury Dairy Milk |
£371m |
£368.2m |
0.8% |
| 5 |
Hovis |
£346.2m |
£303.1m |
14.2% |
| 6 |
Nescafé Instant Coffee |
£333.3m |
£317.6m |
4.9% |
| 7 |
Andrex Toilet Tissue |
£305.7m |
£290.6m |
5.2% |
| 8 |
Kingsmill |
£296.8m |
£301.5m |
-1.6% |
| 9 |
Robinsons |
£264.4m |
£265.6m |
-0.4% |
| 10 |
Lucozade |
£253.3m |
£229.3m |
10.5% |
Notes for editors
- The Top 100 Grocery Brands survey is published as a supplement to Checkout magazine yearly. It is based on ACNielsen data compiled from actual sales in 83,000 multiple and independent grocery stores in the UK.
- A brand is defined as products which sell under a brand name within a specific category. No cross category/ multi-category tabulations have been made.
- All figures refer to the period 25 December 2004 to 24 December 2005
- Checkout magazine is the leading monthly title for the UK grocery supermarket industry.
- For more information, go to: www.checkoutmagazine.co.uk or call Fiona Briggs, editor, Checkout, on (01322) 611244 or Sue Kilner, Head of Communications, ACNielsen, on (01865) 732324
About ACNielsen
ACNielsen, a VNU company, is the world’s leading marketing information company. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the company provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behaviour. Clients rely on ACNielsen’s market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns.
For further information, please visit www.acnielsen.co.uk
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