Higher prices and healthier choices have played critical roles in the fortunes of Britain’s Biggest Brands over the past year, according to The Grocer’s annual report.
Of the top 100 brands, 80 increased in price per average unit, including Lurpak (+16.3%), Cadbury (+14.6%) and Tropicana (+10.5%) [NIQ 52 w/e 27 December 2025].
A major driver was soaring ingredients costs, said Katrina Bishop, NIQ thought leadership activation manager. “Cocoa prices have risen significantly since 2024, which drove up prices for chocolate.
“Dairy is another category battling with increased costs, which explains the high price increases for Lurpak, Anchor and Yeo Valley,” she added.
Price rises have helped many big brands to remain in value growth despite volumes losses: 53 of the top 100 have shed units, but only 29 have lost value.
That was “a clear signal that consumers are buying less, not spending less”, said Sam Killip, head of insights at consumer data provider Attest. Shoppers were “making increasingly deliberate choices about what earns a place in their basket”, she added.
Patrick Young, MD of consumer research company PRS In Vivo, took a similar view. “Sustained price increases are pushing shoppers to reappraise what’s ‘worth it’,” he said. “The brands seeing the sharpest volume declines, like Tropicana (–13.7%) and Hovis (–11%), sit in categories where private label and new entrants have significantly closed the quality gap.”
Of the brands that have grown unit sales, seven have done so by double-digits, including Highland Spring, Monster and Dr Pepper. Greek yoghurt maker New entrant Fage, in 62nd place with a 37.4% gain, was the fastest-growing brand – which it credited to meeting “consumer wellness demands” amid heightened consumer focus on natural, high-protein, low-sugar diets, and gut health.
“In a squeezed market, brands grow when they offer something unmistakable: a health payoff, a cultural cue or a hit of pleasure,” said Hayley Sivner, head of strategy at creative agency TBWA\MCR.
“Fage and Highland Spring are winning because they turn everyday staples into signals of discipline and self-care. Monster and Dr Pepper are winning for the opposite reason: they deliver an unapologetic jolt of enjoyment.”
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