Britvic Soft Drinks Review 2014 Introduction Contents Foreword from Paul Graham, General Manager of Britvic Soft Drinks The Britvic Soft Drinks the category was shaped maintained its appeal to Review has become by multiple trends, such different age groups with an annual feature in the as the demand for value- an array of sub-categories, industry calendar, and for-money, brand names, brands and formats to suit we are proud to once premium products and all tastes, and purchasing Market Total again be able to offer healthier propositions, occasions. As a result such a comprehensive which continued to it’s unsurprising that the look back at the UK soft cement its relevancy category has topped the drinks category. One of amongst consumers. £10bn mark for the first time in its history. The 2013 Story the things the year will Despite market and We are confident that this be remembered for is the economic challenges, successful performance long-awaited return of a soft drinks have once and the continued decent summer, which again proved their evolution of soft drinks led to record sales across resilience. Demonstrating is paving the way for a soft drinks and other its unique positioning and positive and exciting future. categories. Although versatility, the category consumers remained has continued to attract cautious when it came to diverse audiences and their purchasing habits, About the Britvic Soft Drinks Review The Britvic Soft Drinks manufacturers, brands and grocery, convenience Review provides an sub-categories shaping and wholesale channels, in-depth look at how the soft drinks’ performance, whilst CGA Strategy data UK soft drinks market as well as insight into represents licensed on performed in the previous the trends influencing trade premises. This year year, providing insight into consumer behaviour and we have also used data performance in both the purchasing decisions. and insight from Mintel, IGD and Allegra to offer grocery and convenience The 2013 review uses and leisure markets. a more holistic view of take-home data supplied State of the Nation Soft Drinks at a Glance and Convenience Grocery Leisure Data Tables Definitions/Glossary the trends shaping the Using independent by Nielsen to represent soft drinks market. data and insight, the the total off-trade annual review offers an performance including impartial view of the 01 02 03 04 05 06 2 3 State of the Nation Two sides to the 2013 The 2013 Story soft drinks story Still shaped by the aftermath of the recession, the economic climate remained an underlying factor in 2013, influencing consumer behaviour and overall purchasing decisions. As a result consumers remained focused on spend, seeking value-for-money propositions and continuing to be cautious with their cash. With employee average third place and job number of consumers hourly earnings now security in second.[3] willing to spend money 8.5% lower than 2009[1], on entertainment, However, despite shoppers continued to technology and DIY, financial conditions feel the pinch with the illustrating a slight shaping behaviours and proportion of consumers return in confidence.[5] purchasing decisions, cited as saying they there were some green In terms of food and have “no spare cash” shoots and signs of drink, there were two rising to just over a recovery. The number of clear sides to the story. quarter; making the UK shoppers feeling positive Whilst the majority of the 11th highest ranked Signs of green shoots in 2013 about their finances rose consumers remained country according to to nearly half (45%), cash conscious and this measure.[2] Monetary with the proportion careful with their woes also ranked highly of those willing to spending, brands in terms of consumer spend rising to 39%.[4] remained important concerns, dominating the Although the majority of and there was a new The number of shoppers feeling nation’s top four worries. shoppers would rather willingness to spend on % Rising energy costs and positive about their finances put spare cash into higher price point items, 45 increasing utility bills rose to nearly half savings than spend it on giving rise to the trend became the new number discretionary items, we for premiumisation. one concern, with the saw an increase in the economy slipping to % The proportion of those 39 willing to spend rose 01 02 03 04 05 4 5 The rise of the Consumers choose savvy shopper casual dining Value for money became increasingly important to Consumers also remained watchful with their consumers and we saw a rise in the number of savvy leisure spend. However, whilst 60% of consumers shoppers seeking more. Dubbed the ‘New Normal’, said they spent cautiously when eating out in large numbers of shoppers changed their spending 2012, this dropped in 2013, with 50% saying habits to save money, with over half (58%) saying they spent vigilantly[8], another indicator that they had switched to cheaper grocery brands.[6] consumer confidence was beginning to recover. Online shopping increased in popularity Even though pubs The rise in savvy diners as consumers sought out easier ways of continue to close as also continued, with purchasing goods in their own time and “Both online and a result of cautious nearly half of consumers new ways of monitoring their spending. convenience % spending, large saying they used discount 22% of the UK shopped for food or groceries retailing are reaping 50 numbers of consumers vouchers more regularly online, making the nation the most mature began to look towards in 2013, supporting the online grocery market in Europe.[7] the rewards of our casual dining outlets fact promotions and and restaurants for money-off incentives Demonstrating the increasing importance of changing lifestyles reassurance when were a popular way of digital shopping, 2013 saw Sainsbury’s follow as well as the dining out-of-home. driving custom[10]. Use of Tesco and Waitrose to open its first-ever ‘dark rise of the savvy the number Combining good value social media also grew store’, providing a facility dedicated to serving of shoppers and guaranteed quality in popularity amongst solely online sales. Not to be beaten, Tesco shopper willing to with a great experience, operators, with over opened its sixth dark store at the tail end of the who said they use more types of consumers saw branded 90% saying they used year, whilst Waitrose announced its second. spent vigilantly grocery formats to restaurants and casual digital tools to drive dining outlets as a ‘safe footfall and promote get the best deals.” bet’ for informal get- their outlets online[11]. Ben Miller togethers with family Director of Shopper Insight, IGD and friends. Branded % of the UK shopped restaurants saw value 22 for food or groceries sales rise by 6%, with new outlet openings online in 2013 taking the nation’s number of venues to more than 3,890. Similarly the number of fast food chains also rose, with outlet openings increasing by 4%[9]. 6 7 So what did this mean for the soft drinks industry? Whilst consumers continued to view going out as a treat With the economy continuing to shape the and demanded value from their visits to leisure outlets, mood of the nation, 2013 saw manufacturers they were also more willing to purchase brands which strive to reassure shoppers that they were guaranteed a quality proposition for these occasions. getting value for money as well as quality. As a result leisure outlets sought to offer new niche brands, a range of flavours “Closer value and sophisticated service to scrutiny has set their venues apart and become an cater for the treat spend. enduring legacy from the recession, and while we predict consumers will begin to increase their eating out frequencies, these occasions must still deliver an enhanced experience, As a result soft drinks suppliers strived to offer relevancy, as consumers developing new products and become yet more formats designed to tap into new occasions and creating heavyweight demanding and promotions and advertising more discerning.” campaigns to keep their brands and propositions front-of-mind. Allegra Strategies 8 9 Soft Drinks at a Glance A £10bn category Total Market Soft drinks once again proved itself to be one of the most resilient categories. This was largely thanks to new product development in accordance with emerging consumer trends and one of the best summers the nation has experienced in decades, all underpinned by promotions offering significant value to the shopper. Soft drinks fared £10.3bn* considerably better than other categories, with value sales climbing by a steady 2% to Soft Drinks reach £10.3bn. As an category additional result of the nation basking in the heat wave, soft drinks +2% also had the highest value YOY volume increase of all FMCG categories with sales rising by 10%.[12] *First time the category has reached the £10.3 billion mark 01 02 03 04 05 10 11 Trends Focus on health Value for money remained a core purchase Health remained high on the consumer agenda driver, with savvy shoppers snapping up the and the UK government continued to favour range of branded price-marked-packs offered by a collaborative approach within the industry. manufacturers and buying on promotion, whilst in the leisure channel, consumers turned to draught carbonates as a quality, value-for-money option. As well as seeking value, In contrast to the value The nation also continued 2013 saw more soft drinks suppliers sign up to and continue shoppers demanded more conscious consumer, soft to experiment with flavours to support the Public Health Responsibility Deal, enabling convenient and bespoke drinks also benefitted from and tastes. Like other the industry to work together to help improve public health, formats to meet the the growing consumer categories, soft drinks whilst still offering consumers a choice of products.