Appealing to the health-conscious moment has become a mainstay of brand strategies. Combined with environmental concerns, this was the year Plant-based eating came to the fore.
Health is a very significant driver of choice, accounting for 32% of food decisions and worth £20 billion. Growth of health as a choice stalled last year for the first time in a decade, although there was a 7% increase in food chosen for calorie/portion control. Health means different things to different people, for example natural and organic ingredients, superfoods and the absence of things like gluten or meat.
The meat-free market alone grew by 18% in the last year and is now worth £475 million. The increase is due to both the growth of new shoppers and a 6% frequency increase.
Total in home and carried out consumption, 52 w/e December 2019
In this year’s Brand Footprint ranking, Pringles in position 18 grew CRPs by 10% after the successful launch of a healthier variant with the Rice Fusions range. Also tapping into the trend for strong flavours, it comes in four versions inspired by Asian meal concepts. It was one of the biggest launches in grocery last year, worth over £10 million.
McCain also looked to make one of its core products more permissible with Home Chips Light. Since its launch in January 2019 Home Chips Light has been listed nationally across all major retailers and achieved £11.4m sales and reached 8% of the population (2.2 million households).
Dark chocolate is sometimes perceived as healthier due to a lower sugar content and has seen penetration grow from 49% to 60% over the last five years. In March 2019 Bournville launched Giant Buttons which for the first time moved the brand from block chocolate to sharing bags, opening them up new moments of consumption. Only 10 months after launch, 9% of the UK population had trialled them with sales of £7.1m.
Cadbury Dairy Milk, in position 6 benefitted from a longer Easter season, and greater availability in the discounters also contributed to their 9% CRP growth. Cadbury’s brought out a Darkmilk chocolate with 40% cocoa solids as did Galaxy in position 17.
