Welsh vodka brand Au has topped a list of challenger brands driving UK grocery sales in 2025.
The Challenger 50 Fmcg 2025 – compiled by challenger brand media agency MNC using data from Tracksuit, NIQ and Beauhurst – awarded Au Vodka its highest rating of all challenger brands “revitalising the UK’s fmcg industry”.
A challenger brand was defined by the study as having less than £100m in retail sales value (RSV) in the UK and at least 20% growth year on year for at least two years in a row.
Brands were given an overall index ranking out of 250 based on five criteria, with each criteria worth up to 50 points. The criteria were: retail sales value [NIQ 52 we 14 June 2025], retail sales percentage growth over a two-year period, weighted distribution, year founded, and prompted awareness.
Au Vodka – founded by childhood friends Charlie Morgan and Jackson Quinn in 2015 – received a total score of 201. In second place was sourdough bread brand Jason’s with 190 points. Gut health brand Biotiful – snapped up by Müller in April – came in third, with a challenger score of 185.
“This is a powerful validation of our mission to elevate everyday bread,” said Jason’s master baker Jason Geary. “Challenger brands succeed by changing expectations, and that’s exactly what Jason’s Sourdough sets out to do. We’re thrilled with this recognition and even more excited about what comes next.”
Other notable success stories include US-based canned cocktail sensation Buzzballz, which recorded the highest sales growth in the top 50, and coconut water brand Vita Coco, which placed sixth overall and also enjoyed the highest weighted distribution of any challenger brand.
The top 50 challenger brands had an average year-on-year sales growth rate of 48.9%, compared to just 3.4% in the rest of the fmcg industry.
“Innovative independent fmcg companies are grabbing our attention like never before and they have become the drivers of growth within an industry that is increasingly significant to the wider economy,” said MNC director Joe Benn. “Our study indicates that despite the cost of living crisis, consumers are looking for micro moments of pleasure and are voting for innovation with their wallets.”
Over 95% of the top 50 challenger brands started out as independent companies, with more than half (54%) remaining so. Three challengers – Biotiful, Shaken Udder and Merchant Gourmet – have been acquired by larger companies in the past 12 months.
“The best legacy businesses are acquiring and cultivating challenger brands as a means to drive growth,” Benn added.
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