Daily Research News Online no. 4477 - Crisps, Chocolate and Alcohol Top UK Brand List

Crisps, Chocolate and Alcohol Top UK Brand List

August 24 2005

According to the annual survey conducted by TNS for Marketing magazine, Britain's most purchased brands are all convenience foods. The highest value categories overall are soft drinks, alcohol, and chocolate, but there are also significant sales increases for healthier brands including Flora, Muller and Danone.

The list has been compiled from the TNS Superpanel 'Retailer Share Track' database which covers 'take home' purchases in five categories: fresh foods, packaged grocery, alcohol, toiletries and healthcare. Superpanel is a sample of 15,000 households around Great Britain, which is representative demographically, and geographically of Great Britain as a whole.

The top branded categories overall paint a picture of a boozy nation. The number one category is soft drinks, worth close to £2.2bn this year, but this is closely followed by wine, valued at £1.9bn; beer and lager, worth £1.8bn; and spirits, worth £1.46bn. Chocolate confectionery rounds off the top five at £1.41bn.

The top ten for individual brands is little changed since last year, though Muller's 14% rise in sales takes it to number five, while the top three brands (Walkers Crisps, Birds Eye, and Kellogs) have all seen a slight drop in sales. Further down the list, sales are up 16% for no.11 Warburtons, 14% for twelfth-ranked Nescafe, 31% for Danone (no. 19) and 20% for Flora (no. 27).

TOP 10 BRANDS IN GREAT BRITAIN
2004	2005	Brand	2005 sales (£m)	% change
1	1	Walkers Crisps	500-505	-2
2	2	Birds Eye	495-500	-3
3	3	Kelloggs	485-490	-2
4	4	Cadburys Chocolate	480-485	0
5	5	Muller	425-430	14
6	6	Heinz	425-430	-2
7	7	Coca Cola and Diet Coke	385-390	1
8	8	Bernard Matthews	335-340	0
9	9	McVities	330-335	-3
10	10	Stella Artois Lager	310-315	1

Edward Garner, Communications Director TNS Superpanel, notes that nearly all the top ten brands are considered convenience foods as the population continues in its 'cash rich, time poor' trend. However, he points out that 'we are also seeing increasing health awareness amongst consumers, indicated by the strong growth of brands such as Flora Proactive, Danone and Muller'. He believes consumer understanding of diets and health will continue to grow and says 'brands must be prepared to adapt to this changing influence on our decisions'.

All data is for the 52 weeks ending 19th June 2005.

The TNS web site is at www.tns-global.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.