Focus On Dairy Drinks: 14 March

Focus On: Dairy Drinks by Henry Sandercock

Download feature synopsis PDF here

Publishing: 14 March

Advertising deadline: 2 March

Submissions deadline: 26 February

The Story

Health credentials pay off. At least, that seems to be the case for dairy drinks, which gained £13.4m in the past year. That’s thanks in no small part to their virtuous credentials. According to Kantar, nearly a quarter of dairy drink servings were chosen for health reasons last year – an increase of 5.6 million. Yoghurt drinks have been one particular beneficiary, up 35% to £43.2m. Yet some areas of the market are struggling to reap the rewards of this health halo. So what is the key to success in this market? What separates the winners from the losers? And where are the particular areas of opportunity?

Key Themes

Yoghurt drinks: Kefir has been leading the boom in yoghurt drinks. Why has it managed to gain so much appeal among the health-conscious crowd? And what other yoghurt drinks are doing well?

Functional drinks: Despite their health-led messaging, functional dairy drinks are down £8.4m. Why is this? And what are brands doing to make more of their healthy connotations?

Occasions: The number of dairy drinks consumed at breakfast time is growing quickly - up 11.5 million occasions last year. What is driving this? Could this be an area of growing opportunity for the category?

Demographics: A growing number of older shoppers are buying into dairy drinks. Why is this? And how can the category capitalise on this broadening shopper base? Also, the past year has seen the launch of various healthy dairy drinks aimed at kids. How are these performing?

Iced coffee: What is going on in the increasingly competitive iced coffee sector? How are sales performing, and what are brands doing to maximise these?

Innovations: We identify four new products that have ideally not appeared in The Grocer before including launch date and RSP, and a picture of each.

Shopper Intelligence: How consumers shop the dairy drinks category.

Kantar data: Using Kantar commentary, we explain the reasons behind the rise and fall of certain sub-categories.

Nielsen data: Using Nielsen commentary, we look at the 10 fastest-growing brands and 10 fastest-falling brands of the past year.