penne pasta

Source: Unsplash

Focus On Pasta & Pasta Sauce, by Emma Weinbren (emma.weinbren@thegrocer.co.uk)

Publishing: 7 November

Advertising deadline: 23 October

Download the synopsis

Submissions deadline: 16 Oct

The story

During lockdown, you couldn’t get hold of pasta for neither love nor money, thanks to mixture of logistical problems caused by the pandemic in Italy and panic buying here in Britain. Six months on, has the supply chain recovered? What’s changed? Last year, we reported on soaring sales of cheap Italian pasta that can’t legally be sold in Italy because it contains soft flour, are sales continuing to boom? And is there an opportunity for British-made pasta to grow, to reduce our reliance on Italy?

Key themes

Market performance: This feature will be based on grocery sales figures for pasta and pasta sauces from Kantar and Nielsen. How has the market performed in the past year? Which retailers, retail channels are in growth and which are in decline? Why? How has the pandemic impacted sales?

Cheap pasta: With the world hurtling into recession, is already strong demand for cheap, value-tier own label going to accelerate? What impact will this have on supplies from Italy? How will this impact sales of branded pasta?

Pasta sauce: What are Brits putting on their pasta these days? Ingredients such as olive oil and tinned tomatoes are mostly imported from countries like Spain and Italy. How were supplies impacted by Covid-19? And are supply chains now secure as we head into winter?

DTC: With restrictions on the restaurant trade tightening as we head into winter, how big is the opportunity for producers to sell restaurant quality direct to consumers online?

British pasta: With Brexit looming and still no deal in sight, could we all soon be eating British made pasta? How much pasta do we make in this country and how does it compare with the Italian stuff? How secure are supply chains for the raw materials manufacturers require?

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

Nielsen data: Using Nielsen commentary, we explain the reasons behind the rise and fall of the pasta and pasta sauces sub-categories.

Innovations: we will profile four new products or ranges that have ideally not appeared in The Grocer before. We need launch date, rsp, and a hi-res picture of each.

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