The Grocer’s Top Products Survey 2017 in association with nielsen biscuits

TOP 20 Sweet biscuits SALES Brexit takes £m change (£m) change (%) Total volume change: –0.1% TOTAL CATEGORY ,. . . TOTAL OWN LABEL . . . the biscuit as   McVitie’s Pladis . –. –.   Fox’s 2 Sisters . –. –.   BelVita Mondelez . . . packs shrink   Cadbury Biscuits Mondelez . . .   Kit Kat Nestlé Rowntree . –. –. Matt Strudwick   Oreo Mondelez . . .   Maryland Burton’s Biscuit Co . . . alk about taking the biscuit! As the   Go Ahead Pladis . –. –. pound’s value continues to fall fol-   Tunnock’s Tunnock’s . . . lowing the Brexit vote, packets of   Bahlsen Biscuits Bahlsen . . . T   Jammie Dodgers Burton’s Biscuit Co biscuits are shrinking. . –. –. This summer, Pladis cut the number of   Blue Riband Nestlé Rowntree . –. –. McVitie’s Ja a Cakes in a standard pack from   Twix Mars . –. –. 12 to 10 (double packs went from 24 to 20).   Barny Mondelez . . . Rsps were also lowered, but the fall in size   Border Biscuits Border Biscuits . . . still yielded a more than 3% rise in price per   Rocky Fox’s Biscuits . –. –. cake. It’s not just Pladis, of course. “We’ve   Wagon Wheels Burton’s Biscuit Co . . . also had to make some changes to our pack   Paterson Biscuits Paterson Bronte . . . formats,” Premier Foods’ sweet treats brand   Happy Shopper Biscuits Booker Belmont . . . director Jo Agnew told The Grocer in October.   Lu Mondelez . . . The rising cost of key commodities (for example, butter, up 73% year on year at biscuits,” he says. “Many have passed on “They o er an alternative to the ‘dunk- wholesale in September) combined with the price increases through shrink ation.” ing’ moment provided by the core McVitie’s impact of currency exchange rates is also It’s not just packs that are shrinking. So are range,” says trade comms controller Hena making things di cult for Oreo and BelVita their contents. The big three biscuit manufac- Chandarana. “The product has outperformed owner Mondelez, says marketing director for turers (Pladis, Mondelez and Burton’s) have all other (biscuit) NPD this year and remains biscuits Alessandro Ursino. all launched thin versions of their bestsellers. the number one launch of 2017.” “We carry these costs within our business Oreo Thins and our top biscuit launch of the Thins came hot on the heels of Pladis’ big for as long as possible to keep our brands year McVitie’s Thins rolled out in January, fol- launch of 2015, Nibbles – sharing bags of tiny as affordable as possible, but sometimes lowed by Maryland Thins in June. chocolate-coated Digestives and Hobnobs unfortunately it does mean we have to make “Innovative launches within the category aimed at the ‘big night in’. “Both product changes,” says Ursino. “This is not unique to have seen manufacturers being able to charge ranges are examples of how McVitie’s and our business or our brands. It’s something a higher price, especially if they o er a dis- Pladis are broadening their footprint in the that happens across the industry.” tinctive proposition,” adds Hansell. Indeed, sweet biscuit category,” says Chandarana. All this has contributed to a 1% rise in price Thins are more than just a slimmer (pricier) “We’ve seen huge success with the launch per kilo, says Nielsen senior analytic consult- version of a standard biccie. Their higher ratio of McVitie’s Digestives Nibbles, the biggest ant Steven Hansell. “Prices have increased of chocolate to biscuit delivers something dif- sweet biscuit launch of the decade, adding across all segments apart from everyday ferent, suggests Pladis. £17m to the category in its  rst year.”

TOP LA NCH  McVitie’s Digestive Thins Pladis Granted, everyone seems to be slimming down their biscuits in a bid to broaden the category’s appeal (and o set spiralling costs). But no one’s done it better than Pladis. This trio of thinner Digestives (in Milk, Dark and Milk Chocolate Cappuccino) has moved the nation’s bestselling biccie on from tea break dunker into something far more sophisticated, which fetches more than double the price per weight than standard Digestives. It’s racked up a whopping £10.3m since launch in January.

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Indeed, without NPD like this, McVitie’s SALES TOP 10 Savoury biscuits £6.3m loss would be far greater. Innovation £m change (£m) change (%) was also a key driver of Oreo’s £6.7m growth Total volume change: –2.9% TOTAL CATEGORY . . . (the greatest gain in sweet biscuits). In the TOTAL OWN LABEL . . . past 18 months the brand has launched a   Jacob’s Crackers Pladis . . . ra of  avour variants including Strawberry   Quaker Snack A Jacks Quaker Oats . –. –. Cheesecake and Peanut Butter. August saw   Ryvita Crispbread Ryvita . –. –. the launch of a Choc O’ Brownie line, backed   Nairn’s Nairn’s Oatcakes . . . by a £2.5m marketing campaign. At category   Kallo Kallo Foods . . . level, new sweet biscuit products have put an   Ritz Mondelez . –. –. extra £73.3m through the tills in the past year,   Tuc Pladis . . . up 35% on the previous year.   Carr’s Pladis . . . With own label stealing share of sweet bis-   Jacob’s Cheddars Pladis . –. –. cuits (sales are up 6.2% or £21.3m), particu-   Ryvita Thins Ryvita . –. –. larly when it comes to standard ‘everyday’ lines, brands will need to keep their innova- tion pipelines  owing in the coming year. The SALES TOP 10 Cereal bars same can be said in savoury biscuits, where £m change (£m) change (%) own label is the only signi cant grower (up Total volume change: 2.1% TOTAL CATEGORY  . . . £9.5m) as its share of shelf has grown at the TOTAL OWN LABEL . . . expense of brands. Overall, the market has   Nature Valley General Mills . . . dipped 1.9% on volumes down 2.9%.   Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Kellogg’s . –. –. There are a few factors at play here. Savoury   Cadbury Cereal Bars Mondelez . . . biscuits – o en positioned as a healthier,   Kellogg’s Special K Kellogg’s . –. –. baked alternative to fried potato crisps – are   Kellogg’s Coco Pops Kellogg’s . . . having to compete with a whole host of new   Fibre One General Mills . . . ‘healthier’ bagged snacks lines (p86) such   Jordan’s Frusli Jordan’s . . . as popcorn. “More and more consumers are   Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Kellogg’s . –. –. seeking snacks that are better for them,” says   Tracker Mars . –. –. Hayley Murgett, brand controller at Kallo,   Alpen Weetabix . –. –. which is up 1.5% on volumes down 2.2%. Some players also complain that the cate- gory is not being merchandised as e ectively Given the attention that as it could be. “With the change in retailer sugar is getting from merchandising strategies – relocating multi- policymakers and the packs of baked savoury snacks to the much press right now, sweet larger category of crisps, snacks and nuts -– biscuits are holding up we have had to adapt to an entirely new cat- pretty well. Research for egory dynamic versus savoury biscuits,” says us by Harris Interactive Burton’s Biscuit Co marketing director Mandy helps shed some light on Bobrowski. “The category is highly competi- why. Brits are least tive, with increased competition from NPD willing to cut back on and other categories such as popcorn vying their biccie intake as a for space o shelf.” result of rising prices: This helps explain why Burton’s Fish ‘n’ 30% say they’d buy Chips line has seen nearly half its value wiped fewer biccuits if prices out in the past year (it’s now worth £6.8m, rose, compared with down from £13.3m a year ago), although 44% and 47% for sweets Bobrowski says the decline is partly the result and cakes. What’s more, of investment to back the brand’s relaunch 21% of the 2,000 tailing off. Jacob’s Oddities was another consumers we polled casualty a er Pladis axed the brand earlier confessed to sometimes this year to make way for three new Mini eating a whole packet of Cheddars variants (Smoked Applewood, biscuits to themselves in Stilton and Red Leicester). one go. Cookie Monster Oddities’ exit a er six years on sale took would be proud! £2.2m out of the market. Yet Cheddars failed to make up the di erence. It’s lost £100k.

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