Our annual snapshot of the UK grocery market’s top brands, spanning both discounters and supermarkets, outlines this year’s biggest movers and shakers. Jo Gilbert dives into the figures from NIQ
La Vieille Ferme continued its exceptional momentum, adding sales of more than £50m versus last year, which catapulted it into the second spot (up from sixth) in this year’s rankings. Building on its social media explosion, La Vieille Ferme is attracting more shoppers with an average spend per shopper which sits at £5 more than last year. The performance of La Vieille Ferme helped rosé gain share at the expense of red. 19 Crimes and Villa Maria both cemented their place in the top 10 this year with solid growth. Overall performance for wine is less rosy, as fewer shoppers buy into the category YOY.
There is a mixed picture among the top 10 brands within sparkling wine. Freixenet widened the gap as the number one brand this year, with impressive growth of 7.3% adding more than £5m to the category. Canti performed well, adding close to £1m and cementing its place in the number two spot. Nyetimber and Codorniu entered the top 10, adding more than £2.5m between them to the sparkling wine category.
With an overall spirits decline of 2.5% the top 10 brands suffered overall with only Jack Daniel’s, Bacardi Carta Blanca and Tanqueray registering modest growth. Just outside of the top 10, there was some positive news as 11th-placed Jameson Original Irish whiskey (+7.3%), 12th-placed Bombay Sapphire (+5.3%) and 13th-placed Absolut (+10.6%) all performed strongly.
Stella Artois maintains its position as the biggest beer brand in the off-trade increasing the gap to the number two brand, Budweiser, by more than £13m this year. Corona makes up the top three, with Budweiser Brewing Group (BBG) holding the three biggest brands in the market. Carling and Foster’s have lost £55m between them as shoppers look for more premium offerings such as Peroni Nastro Azzurro. Heineken has made the decision to reduce the abv of Foster’s to 3.4%, which may lead to more competitive pricing over the next year. Guinness makes up the top 10, leading the growth of the stout category, which continues to go from strength to strength.
Strongbow Original remains the top seller with a sizeable gap to the competition. Thatchers Gold & Inch’s are the only brands to grow in value sales this year. Inch’s is now the fourth biggest cider brand, moving up from sixth place last year. Flavoured cider as a whole declined, highlighted by those in the top 10 registering double-digit decline. There is some positive news for flavoured cider however, with 11th-placed Kopparberg Variety Pack (+68%) and 12th-placed Old Mout Berries & Cherries (+21%) both showing strong growth and in with a chance of entering the top 10 next year.
RTDs continue to rise in popularity this year with value sales up 14% versus a year ago, which is exceptional growth in a flat alcohol market. £56m more was spent on the category this year with the top three brands contributing two-thirds of this growth. Buzzballz have seemingly appeared out of nowhere to take the number one spot, backed by a strong social media presence, a wide range of flavours and on-trade visibility. Buzzballz lands just ahead of AU and Moth, with all three brands separated by less than £1m. AU has seen strong growth across flavours, with Cherryade (+£2.6m) and Pink Lemonade (+£1.9m) the standout performers. Moth moves up from eighth place into the top three after another impressive year.
