British Dairy Brand Footprint
The British ranking of the most chosen dairy brands
Brand Footprint
The British ranking of the most
chosen dairy brands
Dairy
Setting the scene and introducing the top 20 brands of 2019.
Dairy: everywhere, everyday
Dairy products are ever present in most consumers’ lives, and certainly in their shopping baskets, with 94% of households buying the sector in an average week. The sector has a unique challenge, and opportunity, because many of the categories within it are co-dependent on other foods and drinks. For example, butter is only consumed on or in something and milk’s success is intrinsically linked to the popularly of hot drinks and cereals. So the growth or decline in demand for things like sandwiches and black tea, naturally have a strong impact on the fortunes of dairy brands. Successful dairy brands must therefore be fully alert to wider consumption trends.
This Brand Footprint report is being published at a time of huge behavioural and economic change due to COVID-19. At the time of writing this situation is ongoing and the long-term outlook is unclear.
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Two substantial forces are driving change and growth in the sector. The first is the discounters, in which brands are becoming a more common sight, and this increase in distribution is naturally having a positive effect on sales.
Retailer shares of dairy category
The second factor is the rise of plant-based dairy. We include dairy alternatives in this report because they can play the same role as traditional dairy at the moment of consumption, whether chosen for perceived health benefits or due to intolerance. A category which didn’t even exist a few years ago, dairy alternatives are in significant growth, with fast-expanding ranges and wider availability. Dairy alternative brands are launching products across multiple categories while traditional dairy brands are creating plant-based alternatives of favourite products.
Changing definitions
Finding new moments of consumption is a powerful lever for growth. Dairy is a complex market with many sectors for growing brands to stretch across.
One way that brands can grow is by identifying shifting patterns of consumption, whether that is yoghurt brands playing into the breakfast occasion or cheese brands creating snack versions for eating on the go.
While sales of adult yoghurt are down 1% this year, the luxury sector is in strong single digit growth. This is an opportunity that Müller, the number one dairy brand, capitalised on with the launch of Amore. In a development which reflects our requirement for products which meet multiple needs, Amore appeals specifically to super-creamy yoghurt shoppers, and is also fat free and high in protein. The brand has also launched gin and tonic flavour yoghurts in a six-pack to appeal to the fashion for all things gin.
Oykos, although currently outside the Top 20 in position 29, had a very significant growth of 28% in CRPs this year. This is because the luxury yoghurt sector is in growth and the brand has attracted new shoppers, increasing penetration by two percentage points to 15%. This year the brand launched, Oykos Signatures, which is multi-layered with a solid base of either biscuit, nuts or shortbread designed to appeal at the dessert yoghurt occasion.
Hear more from Marcelina Fedczyszyn on why understanding the dairy market and beyond is key to discovering opportunities for growth for dairy brands.
Arla is a brand that is very successful at moving into new spaces of the market through new product lines. The brand, in position 15, grew CRPs by 13% driven by increasing frequency by 22%. The brand encompasses several product lines, with Skyr, BOB and Organic all growing particularly well. This year it launched Arla Explorers yoghurts aimed at children, with 30% less sugar than other children’s yoghurts.
Top requested by children dairy products
(excluding milk)
Innovate to grow: Yoghurts lead on dairy innovation
The roast and ground coffee market is having a craft-like revolution at the moment with many people making their favourite brew at home. The dairy alternatives brands have been quick to identify this changed need for their products. Swedish brand Oatly launched a foaming barista milk which doesn’t separate for use in both coffee and tea. The brand, which has expanded rapidly in recent times, also launched three flavours of ice cream, more recently followed by a fourth, into Tesco.
Alpro, in position three, is the highest placed of the dairy-free brands in the ranking with strong growth of 4% in CRPs. The brand this year also launched a barista milk, available in soya, oat or almond, specifically formulated to complement the coffee occasion. Alpro had a brand relaunch in summer 2019 with a new look and feel, and a number of new products. This included Greek yoghurt and low calorie ice-cream. Its UHT range has been particularly successful, growing at 29% year on year, an increase of £17 million.
Free from dairy sales mirror trend in other aisles
Smart snacking
Dairy competes with confectionery, biscuits, savoury snacks and fruit as options for those moments we need a boost between meals.
Snacking has been in growth for a number of years now and 125 million more snacks were consumed in the last year alone. With consumers’ heightened awareness around sugar affecting products like children’s yoghurts, cheese brands have stood to benefit as a sugar-free and protein-rich alternative.
Cheestrings rebranded this year to Strings & Things and expanded its range. The brand, in position 23 of the Brand Footprint ranking, had had an increase in CRPs of 13%. New additions this year included cheeshapes featuring emojis and manufacturer Kerry Foods brought Yollies - individually-packaged yoghurt lollies positioned for lunchboxes or snacks - into the Strings & Things brand.
Brand focus: Mini Babybel
Mini Babybel, in position 17 of this year’s Brand Footprint, has the second highest growth in the ranking at 20%. This is driven both by more people buying it resulting in a penetration rise of 5% and people buying it more often, with frequency up 13%.
The brand is very well positioned to benefit from the growth of cheese as a whole and specifically mini portions which grew 16% over the last 12 months to be worth £136 million.
Mini Babybel’s key innovation this year was Mini Rolls, a new format devised to appeal to older children. It has been highly successful, the sixth best-selling NPD in cheese, delivering £700,000 sales in its first year, of which 8% was incremental to the lunchbox category. Mini Babybel Original remains the biggest part of the portfolio, but Mini Babybel Lighter is driving growth this year, playing into consumers’ ongoing focus on health.
In terms of distribution, being listed in the discounters has been key to the brand’s growth, which is also very successful at Tesco and had significant growth in Asda this year.
Not captured in this ranking, which covers take-home grocery sales, Babybel has also now become available in the Boots meal deal in the smaller three-net format, in both light and original, a move which has proven popular. Babybel Original became the third best-selling branded chilled snack in Boots in the first 12 weeks after launch, demonstrating that the listing enabled the brand to better target adults.
Ice cream is the classic dairy snack product and although overall sales paled in comparison to an extremely good summer in 2018, many brands are still gaining share. Wall’s Magnum, in position 14, continued to perform well this year with growth of 2%. The brand successfully launched a vegan version to broaden its market appeal. It is however the mass appeal of Magnum tubs as well as the white chocolate and cookie flavour range which has driven growth this year.
Nuii was new to the market this year and launched as a handheld luxury ice cream with a unique focus on natural and worldwide flavours. Launched in February 2019, the brand has already reached a penetration of 6% and is fifth place in Kantar’s 2019 FMCG Innovation ranking.
Sustainable futures
Dairy brands are looking to do the right thing, as it’s clear shoppers want the industry to take the lead.
As with every sector, sustainability is in the mind of dairy consumers, retailers and brands alike. Consumers care about sustainability, but they feel it is the job of the brands and retailers to present them with the solution - Kantar’s recent Who Cares, Who Does study reveals that only 20% of people believe that it is their responsibility to use less plastic. It might just be however that legislation gets there first, with the 2022 Plastics Tax recently announced.
And when it comes to sustainability, sometimes the old ways are the best. There is some evidence that the milkman is coming back into fashion; in the year to October 2019, milk delivery gained 7% more shoppers. This is a positive move away from plastic, bearing in mind that 99% of the packs sold in this channel are glass bottles. As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt, even more were attracted to the channel to the point that food essentials delivery service Milk & More shut to new subscriptions and had to operate a queuing system for access to its website. Only time will tell if this new customer base will stick with doorstep delivery once the crisis has receded.
As part of Unilever’s #GetPlasticWise intiative, the Solero organic peach range was launched in wrapper-less packaging this year as a trial, achieving a 35% reduction in plastic compared with the original format. The recyclable cardboard packaging was created with compartments to maintain the quality of the product with less need for plastic wrapping.
It can be a big job to minimise a brand’s environmental footprint, acknowledged by Cathedral City as it announced its plan to make all packaging recyclable by 2022. The UK’s second biggest dairy brand grew by 5% this year; mature cheddar is the best performing variant, with the brand’s 550g pack driving growth. The brand also launched The Big Slice format and lactose-free block cheese.
A breakdown of the cheese market
Healthy focus
To be healthy can be taking out, adding in or even moving into emerging sectors.
One third of food and drink is now consumed with health in mind, a proportion that has risen over the decades. Health can be considered both positively and negatively, either as ingredients to include in the diet or things to avoid. With the focus on the sugar tax which became effective for soft drinks in 2019, there have been efforts to take sugar out of dairy as well, particularly products aimed at children. In other respects, dairy with its high protein content has been seen as a relatively healthy choice. However, there is an expectation that saturated fats could be the next focus for legislation so more light versions of traditional favourites seem likely.
Yeo Valley is the sixth largest brand in this year’s dairy ranking with a growth in CRPs of 1%. This is all the more impressive as the yoghurt market has at the same time declined in value by 1%. Yeo Valley, with organic credentials, is well positioned as a healthy brand and this has certainly helped with its performance. Building on this, the brand launched a Kefir variant at the end of 2018 which taps into two key trends: gut health and provenance. Kefir has been the strongest product in terms of growth, backed up by natural yoghurt, growing at 17%, and Greek style yoghurt, up by 32%.
The cream sector has grown this year by 4%, but the growth is driven by the light products as people focus on indulgence in a slightly healthier way. Elmlea has grown CRPs by 1%, driven to a large extent by its presence in the discounters; in Lidl alone, the brand has grown by 1% in the last year.
Levers for growth in action
The 2020 Brand Footprint ranking has examples of brands responding to trends and using all of the levers for growth to find new ways to grow. Here are a few of the notable examples.
Mini Babybel - became available as part of the Boots Meal Deal
Elmlea – listed in the discounters
Strings & Things - rebranded and included Yollies
Activia – moved into smoothies
Arla - launched Kids Explorer Yoghurts
Magnum – provided white chocolate and cookies for younger consumers
Alpro – launched Barista milk for the coffee occasion
Lurpak – moved to ‘butterbox’ because the foil wrapping wasn’t easy to use
Cravendale – targeted the holiday occasion
Oykos – launched Signatures to attract consumers as a dessert
Disruptors
Challenges and opportunities coming into view.
The Fat Act
Will dairy fats be caught in the government’s focus on calories?
High protein
Consumers look to their drinks to boost protein intake
Rise of the milkman
On trend for less plastic waste and buying local
Further reading
The British Brand Footprint series also includes:
Coming soon:
British ranking of the most chosen homecare brands
Kantar’s study of 65,000 people across 24 countries about the use of plastic by FMCG companies.
Further reading
The British Brand Footprint series also includes:
Coming soon:
British ranking of the most chosen homecare brands
Kantar’s study of 65,000 people across 24 countries about the use of plastic by FMCG companies.
