>>branded cheddar and continental rule

Superpanel measures take home purchasing of both deli and prepacked cheese. Cheese is showing growth of 3.2%, slightly ahead of total grocery, driven by prepacked cheese. It is a high penetration market with 88% of all households buying at least one type every four weeks. The average household spent an additional £2 this year compared with last, driven by an increase in frequency and through buyers purchasing more premium cheeses.
Growth is being driven by the multiples, especially Tesco, Asda and Waitrose. Morrisons is showing decline because of the performance of Safeway stores.
Cheddar is by far the biggest sector - around 50% of the market - and is growing its share with a growth rate of just under 4%. Branded mature Cheddars are the primary drivers of growth with strong performances by Pilgrims Choice and Cathedral City, which remains the number one Cheddar brand. Convenience is playing an important role as more households buy into both sliced and grated options. NPD has focused on snacking products with the launches of products such as Golden Vale Brunchettas and Cathedral City snack packs.
The fastest-growing sector is Continentals with growth coming from cheese types such as Feta, Brie and Mozzarella.
Territorials are showing growth of 6% with Double Gloucester, Lancashire and white Stilton all in growth and Caerphilly and goats’ cheese performing very strongly. The major type in decline in this sector is Red Leicester.
Mini Babybel is helping the mini portions sector stay in growth as it launches new low-fat variants.
Although processed cheese is the second-biggest cheese sector, it is now showing a 4% decline. Golden Vale, with Cheestrings, is in good growth but slices are bringing the market down. As Cheddar slices keep growing, so the processed slices market declines, with budget own label performing the worst.
Richard Marriott, TNS Superpanel
Produced for The Grocer by TNS Superpanel. For more information call 020 8967 4521

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