UK Brand Footprint 2022 (c)
A ranking of the most chosen FMCG brands
BRITISH
BRAND
FOOTPRINT
2022
A ranking of the most
chosen FMCG brands
10th Edition
A time to reassess
For many, 2021 was a unique inflection point. It was a time to reassess everything from lifestyle to brand strategy.
The year is best summarised by one word: correction. Lifestyles slipped back to normal
as restrictions were steadily lifted and people were able to to enjoy their freedoms again. Shopping and consumption behaviour started to revert back to pre-pandemic levels, although most sought to keep some of the things they liked about lockdown life. For many brands this year was one of course correction to ensure their strategies set them up for success in a
reshaped future.
In this 10th edition of our British Brand Footprint report, there is also plenty that is reassuringly familiar. 9 of the top 10 brands remain the same as they were back in 2012. Warburtons
in the top spot has consistently been Britain’s most chosen brand. Importantly, the stories behind brand growth continue to reflect the same themes: winners give shoppers more reasons and more opportunities to buy. We consider how this has been achieved in the levers for growth section.
The playing
field may have changed since 2012 but the rules have not
The enduring stability of the top 10 brands reminds us that brand-building is a long-term game. Creating that virtuous circle of rising shopper engagement, sales, and in-store presence takes time, clarity of direction and investment. Cravendale’s (+10m CRPs) journey up the rankings from position 33 in our first edition to position 22 today exemplifies
this point.
In this year’s results we can also see the potential to boost sales by connecting to evolving consumer needs. Cadbury with an increase of +22m CRPs delivered the fastest CRP growth of our top 10 brands by catering for consumers craving variety after the monotony of lockdown. As consumer’s lives started to become busier again, Birds Eye (+4m CRPs) and McCain (+6m CRPs) were able to capitalise on the returning importance of convenient meal solutions. The playing field may have changed since 2012 but the rules have not.
The consistent rules for growth
Whatever the context, and however rapidly consumer behaviour is changing, we know there are consistent rules for how brands grow.
Our five levers for growth will be used throughout this paper to illustrate how brands have succeeded.
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The most chosen
FMCG brands
in Britain
How changing needs impacted
brand choices during 2021
The top 20
FMCG brands
Click on the table to see the ranking in more detail
Brand Focus:
Cadbury
Cadbury was chosen 16% more times in
2021, making it our fastest growing brand
in the FMCG ranking and re-entering the
top 10 for the first time since 2017.
The brand has presence in a wide range of categories from biscuits to ice cream. More than three-quarters of its CRP growth this year has come from chocolate confectionery. This is a growth story driven by innovation. Launching the internationally successful Caramilk variant to the UK market has played the lead role in delivering 8 million additional CRPs. With consumers emerging from lockdown hungry to inject some joy and variety into their lives, a new twist on an established favourite proved to be a winning strategy. Creating more presence with dedicated displays and ad campaigns and more targets by reaching a less family orientated shopper than the rest of the
range helped fuel the growth.
Cadbury re-enters
the top 10 for the first
time since 2017.
Delving deeper
into the rankings
Explore the top 20 brands by sector
Delving deeper into the rankings
Food
Indulgence brands see growth
The top 20 food brands
For the food sector, the last year can be classed as one of recovery. However, restricted travel, new COVID-19 variants, and continued working from home meant it bore more resemblance to 2020
than 2019.
Grocery sales of food brands were inevitably lower, due to a steady return to travel and the workplace. This coincided with the resurgence of the
out-of-home sector which meant people no longer had to prepare all their meals at home. Trip sizes have fallen to their lowest levels since the pandemic began as lockdown restrictions eased and people could shop more often, overshadowing the ongoing recovery in frequency. The online channel's growth has slowed, while discounters have gained customers, with Lidl being the fastest growing physical retailer.
Indulgence brands such as the McVitie’s owned biscuits BN, Ben + Jerry's, Hershey's, and Revels have all seen significant growth year on year. The next challenge for these brands will be navigating store space and promotional strategy as elements of the high fat, salt, sugar (HFSS) restrictions come into effect. This is just part of the Government's wider obesity strategy, which includes a variety of measures aimed at encouraging adults to change their purchasing behaviour, diet and lifestyle.
With indulgence accounting for one area of growth, there have also been some strong launches catering to a healthier diet. Heinz, at number 2
in the ranking launched their Plant Proteinz soup range aimed at making “plant-based eating accessible for all consumers”. Dr Oetker in position 65 has sought to get ahead of the regulations with a new range
of meat-free, HFSS compliant pizzas.
Households in Britain are facing a cost-of-living squeeze, with grocery inflation, at the time of writing, rising to 5.9 percent. This, combined
with higher energy and fuel prices, will make 2022 a year in which brands need to work harder than ever to demonstrate their value to shoppers.
The top 20 food brands
Click on the table to see the ranking in more detail
Moving up 42 places
in our rankings to
break into the top
100 for the first time
Brand Focus:
Fridge Raiders
Snacking brand Fridge Raiders had a phenomenal year in
2021 with the brand moving up 42 places in our ranking
to break into the top 100 for the first time at position 99.
Fridge Raiders is an example of a brand pulling our new needs
lever for growth. The traditionally meat-based brand capitalised
on the growing demand for plant-based products early in the year
by launching a three-strong range of veggie bites in January.
Beverages
Sector suffers as cafes and bars reopen
The top 20
beverage brands
Beverages, like the rest of the market, faced tough growth conditions in 2021 against a background of lockdown purchasing
in 2020. As a result, alcohol declined year on year as the pubs
and bars reopened. Hot beverages were flat while soft drinks
grew +5.6%.
Growth this year was driven by the smaller emerging sub-categories
such as stimulation, iced tea and coffee. Traditional soft drinks such as carbonates, cola, and squash underperformed by comparison. We saw the same pattern with alcohol. Wine, lager and gin performed less well, while sparkling wine, vodka and whisky saw strong growth. Smirnoff for example grew by 8.5% this year with the successful launch of two new flavoured vodkas with bold packaging. This enabled them to reach more targets in the form of younger shoppers.
Although the hot beverages category was flat overall due to the decline in everyday tea and instant coffee, there was growth in fruit and herbal teas as well as ground and whole bean coffee. Lipton managed to increase penetration nearly 25% by reaching new snacking moments in the morning and afternoon.
As we move through this year, we can expect to see the impact of inflation and government intervention in the form of HFSS and the deposit return scheme pose new challenges. However, the new in-home occasions created by the persistence of some lockdown habits and consumer willingness to engage with a broader range of drinks mean that there are plenty of growth opportunities there to be seized.
The top 20
beverage brands
Click on the table to see the ranking in more detail
Brand Focus:
Don Simon
The Spanish juice brand Don Simon has seen an impressive
performance in the rankings in 2021, moving up 38 places.
Brand penetration, which has grown steadily since 2019, is 9.7%.
Most of this growth has come from the “My First Juice” children’s
juice brand, which has focused on new targets and successfully
widened Don Simon’s core shopper group, which were retirees
and empty nesters, to now include young families as well.
Dairy
(and alternatives)
More brands add dairy-free options
The top 20 dairy
(and alternative) brands
Sustainability is a key focus for the dairy sector and last year saw the continued drive to make improvements by all the big brands.
Arla, in position 17 with a growth of 10% published its Future26
strategy towards the end of last year pledging investment to both
its own sustainability and to supporting its farmers. With a 100%
market penetration, dairy products have remained an essential fridge item throughout the pandemic whether that’s traditional dairy or the ever-expanding range of alternatives.
The additional in-home occasions during COVID-19 led to a spike in sales growth in dairy drinks and CYPD (chilled yoghurts and potted desserts). Growing against such high 2020 figures is therefore challenging and
dairy has seen a decrease in sales of 1.4% in the latest period when
compared to this time last year. This has primarily been driven by diminishing volumes per trip (-8%) and increased average price
(+5.5%), much like trends seen throughout most grocery categories.
Whilst dairy is in slight decline overall, some areas have performed better than others. The flavoured milk and yoghurt drinks categories witnessed strong year-on-year value growth. Yeo Valley in position 6 capitalised on this by entering the flavoured milks market with organic chocolate
and raspberry drinks. The range is HFSS compliant and set to provide
a “permissible treat” for health-conscious consumers. Many more brands have been taking dairy-free products to market as this was the highest growing sub-sector versus last year. Yoplait, in position 9 launched its first plant-based product in July 2021, the vegan Petit Filous were created inresponse to families seeking dairy-free alternatives.
Dairy e-commerce sales, as with many other sectors in grocery, has seenrecord share growth from 8.3% pre-pandemic to 14.5% by the end of2021. The online channel still represents a small proportion of salesfor total dairy, relative to brick-and-mortar stores, but nevertheless haswitnessed impressive growth, driven through new shoppers enteringthis channel and retaining these habits.
We are starting to see this change reflected in brand strategy as
shoppers will often order larger pack sizes when it’s going to be
delivered. An example of this is Actimel in position 12 which has
moved towards larger 12 packs from their typical eight packs and increased their sales as a direct result of this.
The top 20 dairy(and alternative)brands
Click on the table to see the ranking in more detail
Brand Focus:
Actimel
Functional yoghurt drinks gained a 17% share this year,
due to health concerns raised throughout the pandemic.
As a result of these concerns, consumers bought more probiotic
products such as Actimel Immune Support, which has increased sales
by more than 50% since 2019. Capitalising on the idea of preventative health, Actimel grew by +15.4% this year, primarily driven by new
shoppers and people buying it more frequently, as people turned
to the trusted brand in times of uncertainty.
Health and Beauty
Naturals outperform the sector
The top 20 health and beauty brands
Click on the table to see the ranking
in more detail
The top 20 health and
beauty brands
Health and beauty did not enjoy the same surge in demand through the pandemic that many food & drink categories enjoyed
Overall, the categories in this sector struggled with a lower growth than grocery. Toiletries saw -5.5% decline driven by reduced frequency. But in an example of how a brand can capitalise on any new opportunity, Astonish expanded into a new category and leapt 18 places up the ranking with their new liquid soap.
The beauty category has been influenced by new norms created by the pandemic as work from home has led to a much simpler beauty routine for many. Despite this, we saw a certain degree of resilience across some categories and channels. Healthcare was the only category in this sector to see growth versus two years ago (pre-pandemic) up +4.9% (52we 26 Dec 21),
driven by increased volume and price.
From a channel perspective, online built on
the gains from 2020 – with almost 50% of shoppers buying on Amazon over the past
year. Amazon now holds 22% share of the online health and beauty market, with strong ambitions for future growth.
There has been a shift towards natural health and eco-conscious shoppers continue to grow in importance. A record 2 million shoppers bought a natural healthcare product last year. The top 20 eco-active brands in the sector have seen significantly greater growth than the total market this year while the penetration of refillable products in toiletries has almost doubled. Tapping into this trend, TENA is one of the fastest growing brands this year with a 3% growth in CRPs. The brand launched into washable incontinence underwear reflecting the new needs of eco-shoppers.
Brand Focus:
Garnier
Garnier is one of the only major brands in this sector growing in consumer reach points this year, with 2% growth - climbing two places to ninth overall.
This strong performance has been driven by
a combination of products. Garnier’s Ambre Solaire suncare range bounced back from poor performance during the pandemic with the launch of an over make-up SPF spray, reflecting the new needs lever for growth. Their Ultimate Blends Hair Food’ is another new innovation that continues to grow in popularity.
Homecare
Routines see permanent change
The top 20
homecare brands
There was a certain degree of resilience across many household categories this year as more time spent at home continued
to fuel growth above pre-pandemic purchasing levels.
Taking a category view reveals some interesting dynamics that reflect what was going on in the world. For example, the performance of household cleaners became the key indicator of our level of hygiene concern. Similarly, the auto dishwash category saw spikes
in usage during times of lockdown throughout 2020 and 2021. These dynamics are reflected in the brands. Dettol’s range of laundry additives and Fairy’s anti-bacterial washing-up liquid saw more moments of consumption as people sought to kill germs all around the house.
It now looks as though routines have changed permanently, with auto dishwash products up 11% and household cleaners up 14.5% in 2021 compared with pre-pandemic levels
Of course, not every category has seen such a headwind. There are general trends affecting all brands across the household sector. Sustainability returns to the front of many consumers minds, with the number of eco-actives gaining share and helping drive eco-brands' outperformance. Developing more premium offerings is a key driver
of growth for this sector, but brands have to gauge this carefully to be genuinely successful.
There is also a growing trend across many categories for new and niche brands that are colourful, fun and loved by social media influencers such as Fabulosa, currently expanding presence both in terms of the range and distribution.
The top 20
homecare brands
Click on the table to see the ranking in more detail
Brand Focus:
Lenor
Of the major brands, Lenor is the fastest growing
in terms of consumer reach points this year with
22% growth, climbing 2 places to reach 4th overall.
The brand has driven the growth of the fabric conditioner
category as a whole due to their game-changing scent
innovations Lenor Outdoorable and Lenor scent beads.
Looking ahead
Uncertainty is our new normal
Looking ahead
There will be a clash of two influences on shopper behaviour
and consumer choices in 2022.
The first is the return to normality. The release of COVID-19 restrictions pushing people back towards their pre-pandemic behaviours: travelling more often and eating out or on the go more frequently. The second is
the cost-of-living crisis which will encourage us to seek savings by limiting the same behaviours. The result is a future that is almost as uncertain
as it was 12 months ago when we emerged from the third lockdown.
This is without even considering the potential for further disruption
from new COVID-19 variants.
Even against this background we can be confident of the characteristics
of a winning brand in 2022. Drawing on the last 10 years of Brand Footprint and having measured shopper behaviour through the volatility of the last 24 months, we believe there are three things all brands must seek this year.
Three things to focus on:
As we move into a market where winning new shoppers is
fraught with difficulty, getting these fundamentals right
will be more important than ever
Methodology
At Kantar, we believe that in order to grow, brands need
to be chosen more often and by more people.
Now in its 10th year, Brand Footprint is our global study of which
brands shoppers are choosing to buy, and why. The metric used for
Brand Footprint is called Consumer Reach Points (CRP) and is
calculated by looking at penetration and frequency in combination
with the number of households in the country. Consumer Reach Points
is the most comprehensive measure available of how many times a
brand is chosen from retailers’ shelves. Data in this report covers the
52 weeks ending October 2021.
