In noodles, the picture is looking pretty positive. Nine of the top 10 brands have gained sales in the past year, amassing a collective £2.1m.
Some of this is simply down to a greater presence. “Amoy, Blue Dragon and Bare Naked have boosted their numbers by securing extra shelf space in the retailers,” says Ana Avila, senior client analytics executive at Nielsen.
Avila says the standout success of Bare Naked – which gained £350k in the past year – is down to one listing in particular. “The new introduction of its noodles in Tesco this year has brought new shoppers to the category, bringing a halo effect in other retailers,” she says.
Thai Taste is the only top 10 noodle brand in decline, down 4.5% in value to £519k. “This has been purely driven by the promotions,” says Avila. “The brand has experienced a decline in units sold on deal due to more expensive promotional prices and lower off-shelf distribution.”
In rice, the picture is more mixed. Four of the top 10 ready-to-heat brands are in decline: Uncle Ben’s, Merchant Gourmet, Cauli Rice and Seeds of Change.
That’s partly down to the growth of private label, which has soared ahead 14.1% in value – a higher percentage change than any of the top 10 brands.
The biggest loser is Tilda, which has shed £1.8m. That comes amid a rise in average price, while market leader Uncle Ben’s has reduced prices and gained £730k.

Promotions have typically been a huge sales driver in rice and noodles. But they are falling. “The 6.4% decline in sales on deal is happening due to removal of volume-based promotions,” says Kantar analyst Bianca Draghici. “Volume deals have shown 31.3% decline, which is £11.2m less than last year.”
However, that isn’t deterring shoppers, who have bolstered the category by 3.7% to £571.6m. That equates to an extra £20m. “The main reason for growth is that shoppers have been purchasing a lot more often,” says Draghici. “That’s increased 3.7% to 13.4 trips per year.”
Savoury noodles were the fastest-growing sub-category of the past year, boasting an £8.1m gain. “That was mainly driven by new shoppers, with an 8.2% increase in penetration and 854k new households,” says Draghici.
Another area of particular growth was own label, up 7.7% to £258.5m. Again, this is down to more frequent purchases. Shoppers make nine trips per year on average, an increase of 5%.
Pouch rice is the biggest driver of own label growth with a 14.5% increase, equating to an extra £9.5m.

Rice and noodles are normally a planned purchase, and they are quite likely planned for a particular use. Most households have a limited meal repertoire – perhaps five to seven ‘go to’ meals – and at least one of these usually involves rice or noodles.
This is important because it means ‘rice’ or ‘noodles’ are normally not the first thought in the meal planner’s mind. It’s more likely to be ‘chilli con carne’ or ‘curry’.
Once that meal decision is made, the purchase of rice or noodles is vital. The key implication is that from a category rather than a brand perspective, you don’t need price reduction promotions to drive sales.
Multibuys may be a much better mechanism for increasing basket size. Given that these products are often integral to core repertoire meals, it is good for the shopper to have the cupboard stocked up.
What is most important for the category in the long term is the hard graft of getting meals that feature rice or noodles increasingly into the household’s repertoire. There are no short cuts, but that can be achieved through recipes, influencers and sampling.
Jeremy Garlick,
Insight Traction