The raging health debate appears to be taking its toll on some of grocery’s biggest hitting brands with The Grocer’s annual Top Products Survey, published today, highlighting shock sales drops.
Among the losers in this year’s survey are Masterfoods’ iconic Mars bar, Nestlé’s Kit Kat and Procter & Gamble’s up-for-sale juice drink Sunny D which posted yet another annual sales drop.
Elsewhere, Diet Coke has overtaken stablemate Coca-Cola for the first time, while sales of mineral water have surged more than 20% as consumers increasingly plump for the healthy option.
However, a confused picture is emerging with some categories, such as bagged snacks and branded cheese, appearing to be so far
unaffected by consumers’ concerns over health.
According to Information Resources, which provides the figures for 19 of the 21 categories featured, Walkers continues to dominate in crisps. Sales of its new Sensations range are responsible for a slight cannibalisation of the snack giant’s core range rather than its healthier Lites range which fell 9%. Despite this, Walkers has still vowed to reduce the fat content of its core range by 10% next year (The Grocer, December 6, p52).
Keith Wells, a director at brand consultancy Dragon, said: “Some of the figures are surprising, particularly the drop for big brands like Kit Kat. But it shows the health issue is really kicking in and this is clearly more than just a fad.
“Brands that ignore this could end up getting clobbered in the long term, although some categories appear more resilient than others. The key for some suppliers will be to react to what is happening, maybe even by just changing recipes slightly to make them healthier. But consumers will look dubiously at brands that try too hard with an obvious example Sunny D.”
Meanwhile, ACNielsen figures in the section on alcoholic drinks and cigarettes show Stella Artois has extended its lead as Britain’s favourite beer while Hardys has stolen Jacob’s Creek’s mantle as the number one wine brand. Sales of cigarettes have fallen almost 2%, fuelling speculation the advertising ban could hit the market hard.
>>p37 Top Products Survey