A relative newcomer on the pods scene, Douwe Egberts brand L'Or is keen to establish itself. Having launched just last year, it has immediately overtaken Nescafé as the biggest hot beverage advertiser in the UK, with a whopping £8.3m spend. 

Some 92.5% of this went on TV ads (pictured) describing how every cup 'ignites a moment of pure pleasure'. 

Nescafé cut ad spend by 14%, leaving it in second place. But it is still heavily promoting new variants such as Azera To Go. 

Other notable spenders are Tassimo and Taylors of Harrogate, which launched two TV ads last September highlighting the lengths it goes to for flavour.

Standard instant coffee brands may be sitting comfortably at the top of the table, but they are having to innovate to stay there. “Shoppers are trading up throughout the instant category from more basic granules to better quality freeze dried and then to high quality wholebean instant,” says Hannah Chapman, Nielsen analytics client team leader.

Nescafé Azera to Go, designed to help consumers replicate the coffee shop experience at home and on the move, was a particularly incremental launch for the category leader.

Kenco has also been busy promoting a more high-end image. In spring the brand launched its £7m ‘The Cofficionado’ advertising campaign to promote the brand’s heritage and coffee quality, backed by a new pack design emphasising Kenco’s history. All this supports its more ‘coffee house’-style NPD from last year such as its flat white, and three new ‘premium and luxury’ flavours: Nutty Hazelnut, Yummy Caramel and Silky Irish Cream. 

Douwe Egberts may be suffering in its main business, but its L’Or brand of Nespresso-compatible capsules is proving a winner. The brand accrued an extra £30m in the past year with the tagline ‘Why pursue anything less than gold?’.

Lavazza hopes its Carte Noire brand will be in this list next year, having set a target value of £42m following its relaunch this summer.

Source: Nielsen 52 w/e 14 July 2018

Overall value growth in the hot beverages market has accelerated from 0.2% to 6.5% this year. Shoppers are not only making more frequent trips, but they are also paying more. 

In coffee, innovations have enabled consumers to recreate the barista experience at home, with the option to take their coffee out as well. 

Shoppers are moving away from basic dried coffee towards premium dry, roast & ground and pod formats. 

The tea market has faced more challenging times, with volume sales declining 3% versus last year. Although we have seen shoppers trading up to premium segments such as fruit and herbal, they are buying tea less often. 

Consumer demand for ‘clean drinking’ is fuelling growth of matcha and turmeric teas.

Own label is continuing to grow ahead of the market. When inflation returned to the grocery market in early 2017, shoppers reacted by trading down to own label, something it was possible to see across both instant and roast & ground coffee formats in particular.

Isabel Zakers, Kantar Worldpanel