Focus On Cakes & Biscuits: 14 Oct

Publishing: 14 Oct

Advertising deadline: 29 September

Submissions deadline: 22 September

Writer: Matt Strudwick (matt.strudwick@thegrocer.co.uk)

The Story

Brits have spent an extra £31.1m on cake in the past year, munching their way through an extra 6.6 million kilos of the stuff. Meanwhile, biscuits are being left in the tin. Sales are down £37m on volumes that are down slightly. What factors are driving this? What can biscuit players learn from cake? And with the weakened pound already pushing up the price of everything from bread to tea, are cakes and biscuits next?

Trends – this is an overview; we will need to explore new angles as they arise.

Retailers: This feature will focus on how retailers’ strategies have evolved in the category over the past year, with particular attention being paid to the development of own label ranges, merchandising and brand listings.

Consumption occasions: Another focus will be how the way we consume cakes & biscuits is changing. More people are sharing confectionery at home in the evening; is this an opportunity for cakes & biscuits? What about on the go? Lunchboxes? What other occasions are an opportunity?

Own label v brands: In both cakes and biscuits, own label is stealing share from brands. This feature will explore the reasons for this, with particular focus on how retailers have developed their ranges in the past year and which brands have suffered loss of shelf space.

Health: Central to this feature will be a discussion of how growing health concerns are affecting the market and likely to affect it in the future. Could biscuit and cake and brands reformulate their offerings to make them healthier? Or is it not necessary? What other trends are impacting them?

Inflation: Although market data for the past year show that prices of cakes and biscuits have fallen, analysis of the past few months suggests prices are now starting to rise. How will this affect consumption patterns, NPD, etc? Will we see shrinkflation? Will people trade down to own label?

Prices & promotions: This feature will also explore how the use of promotions to drive sales has changed over the past year, and how this has affected the average price paid for cakes & biscuits.

Innovations: We identify eight new products or product ranges (four savoury biscuits; four sweet biscuits; four single serve cakes; four normal cakes) that have not appeared in The Grocer before including launch date and RSP, and a hi-res picture of each.

Key questions the feature is likely to address:

• What consumer trends have impacted the category over the past year?
• How have promotional strategies (both in terms of price and marketing) evolved?
• How have individual retailers’ strategies impacted the market?
• How has merchandising changed in the market?
• What impact has own-label had on branded players?
• What’s next for the category?