Kantar: butters & spreads value sales
Butters and spreads value sales  
     
  Value (m) % change
Spreadable   521.1 4.5
Block   429.2 10.3
Dairy Spreads   208.9 6.2
Functional   69.1 -3.4
Olive Spreads   56.2 -7.7
Low Fat   51.0 -2.7
Margarine   52.2 -3.2
Sunflower   37.0 5.0
     
Source: Kantar, 52 w/e 27 January 2019    

Value sales may look positive on the face of it, but this is almost entirely driven by price rises. Block butter, for example, is 13.1% more expensive than last year and some 59% more expensive than average category prices. That has led to a 2.3% decline in volumes sold.

Average olive spread prices also are up 26p per pack, or 11.8% compared with last year. This contributed to the most severe volume decline in the entire category of 17.2%. 

Shoppers aren’t leaving the market completely, though, but are switching to less pricey options such as dairy spreads, up 4.5% in volume.

In addition to the price inflation in the market, partly driven by poor harvests, lower levels of promotion are also making butters and spreads more expensive. In total, 44.4% volume was sold on promotion this year versus 45.9% last year. 

However, these promotional reductions were not as significant as we saw the previous year, when it dropped from 53.8% of volumes to 45.9%. 

This reduction is partly down to brands reducing promotional levels. It is also driven by the rise of own label, whose value sales grew 10% this year on volumes up 0.7%. Own label SKUs tend to be promoted less than branded variants. Therefore, overall levels of promotion in the category are falling as they become more dominant.

Michael Ndukwe, Kantar

Nielsen: Top ten brands by value
Top 10 butter and spread brands  
     
  Value (m) % change 
Lurpak 337.9 5.0%
Anchor 109.5 -2.4%
Flora 82.0 -3.9%
Clover 74.2 10.1%
Country Life 50.3 -3.7%
Bertolli 35.6 -5.7%
Flora Pro Activ 32.4 -3.1%
Stork 26.5 -3.9%
Kerrygold 24.5 -5.6%
Utterly Butterly 21.1 12.9%
     
Source: Nielsen,  52 w/e 23 February 2019    

The in-store space afforded to branded products is under pressure as retailers increasingly focus on own-label ranges. 

As a result, only two of the top 10 brands have escaped a volume decline. 

Clover secured a 10.8% volume gain by deepening promotional activity on its core 500g lines. Meanwhile, Utterly Butterly mustered a 14.9% rise in volume.

Flora is seeing the most significant volume deficit of 3.4 million fewer kilos.

Lurpak has maintained its position as the number one brand within the market, helped by the performance of Lurpak Softest, which launched in May 2018.

Amy Duffy, Nielsen