How do youth snack?

As part of our recent Snacking study, Bord Bia completed a separate booster survey among 10-15 year olds in Ireland the UK. Mums completed the survey on behalf of their children. In total we recorded 4,886 snacking occasions.


Key differences between this segment and the adult were:

• More out of home snacking

In all, 26% of their occasions are out of home versus 22% of adult occasions. For their out of home snacking, two thirds of this take place in school.

• Higher snacking in the afternoon

The youth segment has the same peak
snacking period as adults: 3pm – 6pm. However the percentage of snacks at this time is higher with 31% of their snacks take place in the afternoon compared with 23% of adult snacks. This can be attributed to the need to snack after school to boost energy levels. 

 

• Not responsible for purchases of snacks

It is the mother who purchases more than three quarters of their snacks (unlike the adult population where 74% of snacks are purchased by themselves).

• Where snacks are purchased

Youth snacks are more likely to be purchased in a supermarket, accounting for almost nine out of ten of their at home snacks.

• Higher spend in Britain among youths than Ireland

The cost per snacking occasion (which could include a drink) is €1.86 in Republic of Ireland and £1.62 in the UK, which means that the British youths are spending more on snacks than the Irish.

• Multipack formats more prominent

A total of 44% of their snacks are from multipacks (compared with 34% of all adults’ snacks).

• Beverage choice varies

Drinks continue to accompany 42% of their snacks (which is the same figure as the adult population). However, the difference is the choice of beverages (see right).

• More variety and healthier snack options

They under index on confectionary and fruit categories and over index on dairy/eggs and sandwiches. Slightly healthier snacking could be attributed to the control of the parent on their snacking choices.


Source: Paula Donoghue, Brand Manager, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board

Bread & Bakery: a fresh take

 

Source: www.conveniencestore.co.uk, 27th March 2014

Own Labels vs Brands shelf wars: who will seize the space?

 

The recent story of private label products vs. brands is a familiar one. Take an environment where food inflation is higher than real disposable income, add a decrease in product innovation, stir in squeezed retailers and this is what you get: a steady growth in private label sales.
In fact, between 2011 and 2013, private label (PL) sales have risen 1.32% at a total grocery level, according to the research we commissioned from Kantar Worldpanel for our Food Sense Forum event. And this trend continues into 2014 – with PL sales accounting for 46.49% of total grocery sales in January, 48.06% for February, and up by 0.88% compared to the same period in 2013.

Graph 1: Brand (Orange) versus all PLs: Standard, Premium and Economy (Green), Source: Kantar Worldpanel


So far, so obvious. When times are tough, consumers shop around. But is the value savvy consumer here to stay?
There is evidence to show they are not going anywhere in a hurry. Despite the rising fortunes of Aldi and Lidl, the research we commissioned shows that store choice and promotions are less significant drivers of above inflation spend than product choice. See the chart looking at why shoppers trade up/down from a baseline where spend growth matches exactly with inflationary growth.

Graph 2: This chart shows the 4 elements of trading up/down and plots them as a time series – bars below the line show how shoppers are trading down, bars above how they are trading up. The base line (or 0.0) is when spend growth matches exactly with inflationary growth, i.e. there is no trading up/down taking place. The 4 elements are Volume Change (Pink), Store Choice (Green), Promotion (Purple) and Product Choice (Orange).
Source: Kantar Worldpanel


The only time in the last three years that spend rose above inflation was in July 2012, when consumers traded up to more expensive products, driven by the sheer joy of the Olympics and the prospect of an actual hot summer.

While the fortune of brands has been linked to limited R&D and product innovation during the economic downturn, in reality just half of all new products survive two years on the shelves, according to Kantar Worldpanel.

It gets worse – the average product lifespan is 4-5 years.

With increasing competition among retailers for grocery spend, private label is set to become the new battleground.
Adrian Atterby, Director, Kantar Worldpanel, said: “For supermarkets, private label (PL) and the higher margins they achieve are a much needed antidote to the challenging environment. In some categories, branded products have disappeared from the shelves completely. In order for brands to remain successful and to warrant a place on shelf they must demonstrate a clear USP and one that isn’t easily copied by PL products.”

The key to a successful new product launch and survival in the fight for shelf space is category and story innovation.
In economic recovery, innovation that challenges category norms by being story-led, rather than product led, is likely to pay an increasingly important role. To emerge victorious, the recipe for success is equal measures of product innovation and story innovation.

Source: http://www.msllondon.com/blogs/2014/mar/25/shelf-wars-who-will-seize-the-space 25th March 2014
 

(Full presentation slides below)

Revamped packaging for Go ahead biscuits

United Biscuits has unveiled a modern look for its ‘go ahead!’ brand, which includes a new logo and a fresh new look. The group said the changes will ensure the brand is easy to recognise and quicker to find on-shelf to boost Healthier Biscuit sales for retailers.

Available from early April, the move will see go ahead! emphasise its fruity offering with a simplified change in lettering, and the logo being contained within a green circle and featuring prominently on packs across the range. Each pack will also be colour co-ordinated across ranges and flavours.

United Biscuits will be launching a £4m marketing campaign which will include a surprising and impactful TV advertising campaign. Launching later this year, the campaign will focus on the fruity enjoyment of the brand and will be supported by in-store activation.

Sarah Heynen, Marketing Director of Sweet Biscuits at UBUK, commented: “With its eye-catching new look, go ahead! will be sure to grab the shopper’s attention and attract new and existing shoppers to the Healthier Biscuits fixture and grow sales for retailers”.

NamNews - Wednesday 26th March 2014

Cadbury kicks off new on-pack promotion

 

Cadbury is launching a major new on-pack promotion that offers customers the chance to win a ‘money-can’t-buy’ prize.

Featuring pink foil-wrapped Cadbury bar, the promotion offers 30 lucky winners a hand-made sculpture of whatever it is that brings them joy (made out of Cadbury chocolate), plus a joyful surprise worth up to £5,000. Additionally, one in eight promotional packs will win a free chocolate bar – including latest Cadbury launches like Freddo Faces, Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations and Cadbury Dairy Milk with Lu and Ritz.

The launch will be supported by a £3m marketing investment, including PR, digital and social activation, OOH close to stores, and impactful POS.

The new promotion follows the huge success of Unwrap Gold in 2013, which generated 1 million online entries, driving incremental sales of £9m, bringing 400,000 new shoppers into the category, and persuading existing shoppers to spend an additional £1.14 each on Cadbury products.

NamNews - Wednesday 26th March 2014

Waitrose to open first national distribution centre in Milton Keynes

Waitrose has revealed plans to open its national distribution centre, developed by Gazeley at its Magna Park development, in Milton Keynes, in summer 2015. The NDC will be the size of twelve Premiership football pitches and will handle the distribution of around 25,000 nationally available grocery and Home department lines that can be found in Waitrose branches and on Waitrose.com.

Waitrose said the move will simplify the supply chain and improve efficiency of handing nationally available lines. David Jones, Waitrose Supply Chain Director, commented: "The decision to open our first National Distribution Centre marks a pivotal moment in our Supply Chain history and reflects our phenomenal growth.".

Source: Namnews, 24th March 2014

 

Young adults found to prefer big brands to private labels

 

A new report from Canadean Consumer has found that young adults, aged 16-35, are more likely to buy branded products than private labels. .

26.8% of branded products are consumed by young adults while this age group only accounts for 22.6% of the private label share. According to Canadean analyst Kirsty Nolan, young adults are more likely to focus on branded products owing to their lack of experience in grocery shopping. This consumer group has only recently fled the nest and has had to take on the responsibility of primary grocery shopping. This means a lack of familiarity with private labels and, in turn, low confidence in the products. “Moving forward manufacturers and retailers alike need to overcome young adults’ reluctance to eat private label food by emphasising quality as well as value for money,” she said.

On average, young adults under-consume private labels by 6.9% compared to their share of the population: 16-35 year olds account for 29.5% of the population but only eat 22.6% of the private label produce. These statistics illustrate the huge gap in the market that private label retailers are missing with current products and strategies.

Older consumers remain key age group for private label; however Canadean believes there are still opportunities to exploit. Across the globe, its data shows that almost half of private label groceries are eaten by over 45s, even though they only account for approximately a third of the population.

Nolan commented: “Consumers aged 45 and over often have more time to compare the price and take a moment to consider the quality presented in both private label and branded products, as well as being more experienced buyers.” Recent investment into private labels across the UK and other developed markets has meant that the quality found in private label products is often comparable to the big brands. Campaigns by retailers including Aldi’s Like Brands, Only Cheaper, and Marks and Spencer’s Not Just Any, have emphasized this point. This helps to assure discerning older shoppers that they are getting a good quality product at a competitive price.

The Canadean data shows that there is a great variation in the significance that the over 45s play by sector. This age group eats 60% of private label soup while only 33% of private label soy products. Other opportunities for retailers in the +45 age group include, chilled and deli food, oils and fats, and prepared meals.

In addition to being savvy shoppers, value seeking is of greater importance to the over 45s. Canadean tracked the importance of 20 consumption motivators in food markets: 23% of products eaten by the over 45s were selected because consumers were seeking good value for money, as opposed to only 19% in young adults. While product quality is of growing importance in the success of private labels, Canadean believes retailers must ensure that private label prices remain competitive in order to continue appealing to their core, older consumer group.

NamNews - Friday 21st March 2014

Indulgence Patisserie's £2.5m plant to add up to 30 jobs

Desserts business Indulgence Patisserie aims to create 25–30 jobs in the next three years after completing a new factory next to its existing Colchester facility.             
  
Angus Allan, md of the company, told FoodManufacture.co.uk that the project had taken a year to finish.

The new plant would give the business, which supplies retail customers such as Waitrose and Booths and Ocado as well as foodservice clients, a big boost, he said. "It means we will be able to double our turnover in the next three years. Our current turnover is £8M."

He added: "At the moment there are 50 of us. That will rise to 75-80 potentially within three years."

‘More space’

"We have invested £2.5M in items such as more space, better segregation of areas, better drainage, improved wash facilities, an improved, positive-filtered, refrigerated air system, and double door, pass-through rack ovens.

"We have also purchased new processing equipment such as a liquid nitrogen tunnel, planetary mixers and chocolate melting tanks."

While UK business continued to be strong, the firm was achieving considerable sales growth through exports, with the bulk of that being driven by non-EU markets, said Allan. "A lot of recent growth is being driven by exports. We supply Australia, the Middle East, Singapore and our European neighbours."


Source: www.foodmanufacture.co.uk, by Rod Addy, 26th February 2014

Les recettes de Waitrose pour garder sa longueur d'avance sur le frais

L'enseigne entend se démarquer de ses concurrents, en développant notamment des relations privilégiées avec ses fournisseurs.

Alistair Stone, directeur des achats de fruits et légumes chez Waitrose, a livré, lors de la conférence LSA dédiée au frais, les axes de développement de son enseigne.

"Des clients plus volatiles", "une fréquence d’achat en hausse, mais des paniers plus petits"… Alistair Stone connait par cœur le marché britannique, qui ressemble en de nombreux points à celui de l'Hexagone. Dans le cadre de la conférence LSA consacrée à l'univers des produits frais, organisée ce mardi 11 février à Paris, il confie les principaux axes de développement de Waitrose, l’équivalent britannique de notre Monoprix, pour les rayons frais. Elle détient, à titre d’exemple, 25 % de part de marché sur les produits étiquetés bio au Royaume-Uni.


Voici quelques uns des axes stratégiques pour Waitrose pour l'univers des fruits et légumes

-Une offre éthique La fondation Waitrose entend multiplier les liens avec les fournisseurs de pays africains notamment. L’idée : proposer des produits responsables, pour donner du sens aux achats de ses consommateurs

-Développer les relations avec les agriculteurs et les fournisseurs grâce à ses 12 acheteurs sous sa direction.

-Miser sur l’innovation Dans ce rayon aussi, l’innovation est cruciale. Alistair Stone assure que Waitrose travaille avec des experts pour aider à la création variétale et la mise en marché de nouveaux produits. Ces nouveautés sont ensuite souvent soutenues sur l’un des six prospectus dédiés au frais qui sont publiés chaque année par l’enseigne.

-Développer les promotions intelligentes Déjà en temps normal, Alistair Stone explique que « 40 % des ventes sont effectuées sous promotions, les clients adorent ça ». L'enseigne britannique favorise en effet les formules « 2 achetés, le 3ème offert ». A l’avenir, ce directeur des achats espère développer des promotions plus ciblées en fonction des goûts et des habitudes de chacun de ses clients.


Source: www.lsa.fr, Publié le 11 février 2014 par JULIE DELVALLÉE

Supermarket shopper promiscuity on the rise

 

Shopper promiscuity is on the rise as shoppers spent an average of £19 per visit at the UK’s leading supermarkets in February, according to the latest data from Nielsen. .

During the four weeks ending 1 March 2014, consumers spent -0.1% less money (value) at the UK’s leading supermarkets than the same period a year ago, buying -2.5% fewer units (volume). “The wet weather, historically low price inflation and squeezed household budgets meant the amount of money going through supermarket tills was marginally less than last year,” said Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight Mike Watkins. “However, what’s most important is the way people are shopping.”

In February, 96% of UK households visited one of the top four supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda or Morrisons – while over 40% of households visited Aldi or Lidl.
Aldi and Lidl now account for 8.8% of all sales – up from 6.6% a year ago. This compares to 72% of sales held by the top four, down from 74%.

Watkins explained: “The range of supermarkets that shoppers now visit is the big change. Although the amount spent is falling, seven of the top 10 supermarkets managed to entice new customers over the last three months. Shopper promiscuity is the new reality.
“Of course, the discounters are increasingly popular – one in five Aldi visitors last month shopped there for the first time – yet they account for less than 9p in every £1 spent. People are still visiting the large supermarkets for the bulk of their shopping, ‘cherry-picking’ promotional items – spending £25 a visit – but buying more of their grocery staples in Aldi and Lidl, spending £17 per visit.”

Meanwhile, Nielsen highlighted that the UK’s 10 leading supermarkets spent 12.4% less on TV and press advertising in the four weeks ending 1 March (£21.4m in total) than in the same period a year ago. Asda spent the most on TV and press advertising in this period (£4.4m). This was also the biggest year-on-year increase (71%) in spend among the top 10 supermarkets. Waitrose (+29%) and Lidl (+22%) were the only other two to increase spend year-on-year.

Watkins concluded: “Many shoppers are buying items on promotion and then going elsewhere to finish filling their basket. So, the increasing challenge for supermarkets is not only driving footfall but also getting shoppers to buy more per visit. That means there’s a need to differentiate their offering but this has to be more than just through promotions or lowest price. It involves engaging shoppers with the overall shopping experience and providing value for money – as well as allowing them to save money”.

NamNews - Monday 17th March 2014