Asda has delisted two Fairtrade instant coffee brands, Cafédirect and Clipper, due to poor sales.
The retailer said it would replace the brands with three new Extra Special own label variants, one Fairtrade and two Rainforest Alliance certified.
Sales of both Cafédirect and Clipper were poor in 2009 at Asda, according to Kantar Worldpanel data passed to The Grocer.
Value sales of Cafédirect instant coffee at Asda declined 11.5% in the year to 6 September 2009, while sales of Clipper instant coffee plummeted 64.7%. This took Clipper's instant coffee market share to just 0.2% in Asda, while Cafédirect’s instant coffee market share dipped to 0.7%.
Asda is continuing to sell Percol instant coffee, which saw sales rise 16.8% in the same period.
One coffee supplier said smaller brands were struggling because the instant coffee market was dominated by Nescafé, which invested £43m in its 'coffee at its brightest' marketing campaign launched last year and has a 50% share of the market. "It is a difficult time for Fairtrade because big brands are in your face and it is so marketing driven. The instant coffee market is not necessarily price driven - it is about brand awareness," he said.
Asda said it was still committed to selling Fairtrade coffee. "Fairtrade is hugely important for us especially within coffee, where there are strong sales especially in roast and ground," said a spokeswoman.
Jon Marlow, head of sales at Cafédirect, said that despite its instant coffee being delisted, "Cafédirect continues to work in close partnership with Asda to improve the supermarket's ethical positioning and reinforce its sustainability agenda."
Read more
Focus On Fairtrade (February 2010)
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