Bake Off fever looks to be cooling as Brits spent £26.8m less on home baking ingredients over the past year.
Cherries, raisins and sultanas, baking sugar and cake decorations accounted for the bulk of the decline, as sales fell across the big four. Only Lidl, Ocado and M&S saw growth, while Aldi was hit with the steepest decline of 9.8% - after having seen double-digit growth for the past three years [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 26 March 2017].
“The big four, which collectively hold a 63.7% share of spend in home baking, all posted value decline with the range changes to favour own label over brands taking value out of each retailer,” said Kantar analyst Thomas Steel.
Despite space gains, own label still suffered a £14.7m loss. However, its volume decline wasn’t as steep as brands’. Eight of the top 10 brands are in decline, with the exception of Dr Oetker and Hartley’s [IRI 52 w/e 22 April 2017].
“In larger retailers the average SKU count has fallen by 3%, and in some this is up to 12%. This is having a negative effect,” said Jan McKee, executive head of marketing at Dr Oetker UK.
Brands are now turning their focus to The Great British Bake Off, which is set to make its Channel 4 debut with a new lineup of hosts.
“With consumers baking less over the past year, we’re hoping to see new engagement as the show’s move brings new features and personalities,” added McKee. “Channel 4 also brings new opportunities.”
1 Readers' comment