·The category as a whole has added £34m in value; only a few, smaller sectors are in decline. Frequency of purchase and inflated prices keep the category in growth despite a decline in penetration of 0.05ppts. Despite this drop off, 89.7% of households still buy savoury pastry and meat snacks, making headroom for growth limited. The industry should focus on driving up volumes per trip and getting into baskets more often.

· The top five categories all grew ahead of the market’s 2.8%. Hot pies and sausage rolls attracted 13,000 and 8,000 new shoppers respectively. However, price increases have also been a big factor for the growth in all these sectors.

· Prices increased at a total category level, partly driven by promotional sales falling from 37.2% to 36.7%. The key exceptions have been cooked sausages and meat snacks, where promotions have actually increased.

· Premium own label has grown 19.7% year on year. With an average price 93p higher than market average, this surge has contributed towards price increases. Key sectors for premiumisation have been hot pies, pork pies, sausage rolls and scotch eggs. Aldi has been particularly successful at premiumisation in this sector with its Specially Selected range growing by £7.3m. Asda Extra Special and Lidl Deluxe have also been key contributors, growing £2.8m and £0.6m respectively.

· Own label continues to dominate with a 72% share of sales. It also outperforms brands, growing at 3.6% driven by frequency and price inflation, compared with brands, which are growing at 0.8%. Total: £1,224.6m (+2.5%)

Chloe Ashe, Kantar Worldpanel