Setting the scene and introducing the top 20 brands of 2019.
The take home food sector came under pressure last year with consumer confidence levels dropping to their lowest levels since the 2008-9 recession due to Brexit uncertainty.
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. Read more
A Worldpanel Plus survey carried out early in the year showed that 78% of people were worried about higher food prices in the event of a “No deal Brexit”.
Conversely, it was the area that they were least likely to cut back on with only 22% saying that they would reduce spending, in contrast eating out was the most likely at 60%.
Source: Worldpanel Plus survey. 7,008 respondents over weekend Feb 2019
For some areas of the sector comparisons were tough against the peaks reached in the glorious 2018 summer, a royal wedding and several major sporting events. On the upside, Easter in 2019 fell a lot later, which was particularly beneficial to the chocolate brands as it gave them longer to tempt shoppers with their wares.
In the face of all the disruption, there was growth for 12 of the top 20 food brands in this year’s Brand Footprint Food ranking and the sector’s sales increased in value by 1.5% to £43.6 billion.
This shows that despite the prevailing conditions, there are always opportunities for brands to grow. Understanding consumers and their needs is the foundation for this.
In this report we will examine some of the key trends from 2019 and what brands have done to address them.
