Nielsen: Top 10 brands by value
Top ten free from brands by value  
     
  Value (m) % change
Alpro 215.4 9.2
Lactofree 64.7 3.4
Nakd 38.7 0.6
The Collective  34.6 7.5
Genius  30.6 -0.8
Schar 30.1 8.6
Eat Natural 29.9 -3.2
Oatly 29.6 90.9
Seabrook 28.0 15.9
Nairns 26.3 12.1
     
Nielsen, 52 w/e 18 May 2019    

Free-from is booming. The top 10 brands have added a combined £44.9m in sales over the past year, with eight out of 10 in growth.


The highest climbers in the top 10 are dairy alternative brands Alpro and Oatly, up £18.2m and £14.1m respectively.


That’s down to a steady stream of NPD from both brands. Over the past year, Alpro has expanded to include organic milk alternatives and on-the-go iced coffee. Meanwhile, Oatly launched Whole, Semi and Skinny products in October to align itself more closely with dairy conventions.


Their success also proves the power of savvy marketing. Both brands actively marketed themselves as coffee accompaniments at this year’s London Coffee Festival, with Alpro even holding a tasting session using its different milk alternatives. Alpro has also teamed up with BBC Good Food to show “how easy it is to use the range across lots of different meal occasions”.


Genius is one of only two brands in value decline. However, that was down to a decline in average price – volumes increased 4.9%.


The other brand in decline – Eat Natural – is facing stiff competition in the snack bar arena. Nature Valley has won big with its protein bar, up 28.3% to £18.6m.


It’s not all about the top 10, though. Number 18 brand Violife is storming along with a 44.5% increase to £12.3m. That came as it launched its first mainstream TV ad in January this year.

Kantar: Free from value sales
Free from value sales  
     
Category Value (m) % change
  Dairy Products   523.4 24.2
  Fresh Meat   253.7 41.0
  Chilled Convenience   191.3 50.0
  Take Home Savouries   179.5 122.4
  Ambient Bakery Products   168.9 17.2
  Biscuits   164.2 13.6
  Frozen Prepared Foods   114.2 72.7
  Savoury Carbohydrts+Sncks   65.5 22.4
     
Branded 1,522.1 34.3
Own label 541.4 40.9

The free-from market continues to grow strongly, with value sales up 36% to over £2bn. This is well ahead of overall value growth in grocery, which stands at 2.3%.


Some of the growth we see here will be artificial, as manufacturers are re-labelling products that are naturally gluten-free or dairy-free to emphasise these benefits.


The vast majority of value growth is down to shoppers purchasing from the free-from category more frequently. The average shopper now buys into the market 25.3 times per year.


Brands hold a 73.8% share of the market. However, this has fallen from 74.7% last year.


By contrast, own label sales have grown 40.9% to £541.4m, attracting an additional 3.3 million households and hitting 78.1% penetration in the past year. Shoppers are also buying own label free-from products more often, on average an extra 1.6 times per year.


All retailers are growing through their own label lines, but Lidl shows the strongest growth at 213% as its range becomes established.


Alice Cadman, Kantar