The cereals market has grown by 6.2% to £1.5bn in the last year, with volume up 2.4%. The category is dominated by ready-to-eat with market value share at 91.5%. Own label has increased share to 23.2%, with growth at 13.5%. Branded has grown 4.1%, with volumes down 1.2%.

Cereals are bought by 96.8% of households, so opportunities to bring in new shoppers are limited. Instead, growth has come from more trips being made by the average shopper to the fixture, now at 24.2 per year, up from 23.9 a year ago. In a category with 24.4 million shoppers that increase is worth £23m.

The average cereal shopper spends £61.53 a year on the category, up from £58.32 a year ago. However, this is largely attributable to price inflation the average price of a box of branded cereal has increased from £1.71 to £1.83 and, for own label, from £1.17 per box to £1.21.

The discounters and Waitrose grew 16.2% and 9.9% respectively, while only Asda and Sainsbury's of the big four increased category share by growing ahead of the market. Tesco is behind the market at 6.1%, despite the launch of its Country Barn tertiary range earlier in the year. With an average unit price of £1.06, the four-SKU range has been bought by 2.1 million households since launch. Sales have been worth £7.2m with the largest contribution by the Wheat Biscuits 24-pack (£2.3m).

The breakfast occasion is still dominating consumption, with a sit-down breakfast at home becoming more important again, and at it consumers are sticking to what they know, with favourite cereals a key driver. Filling cereals have also gained importance.

Focus On Cereals