- Warburtons tops GB FMCG rankings, ahead of Heinz, Walkers, McVitie’s and Coca-Cola
- Brand power is weakening as consumers focus more on product benefits than names
- Growth comes from solving specific needs, such as health, cost, convenience and portion size
- Clear labelling and nutrition matter more, driven by health trends and GLP-1 awareness
- Success depends on occasion and format, with brands winning by fitting more consumption moments
Warburtons, Heinz, Walkers, McVitie’s and Coca-Cola – British consumers can’t get enough of these big brands, according to a new FMCG rankings report.
But the pull of big names is no longer enough.
“Brands are being asked to solve smaller problems with more precision: a cheaper lunch, a clearer health cue, a treat that feels worth it, a drink that fits the moment, a portion that suits a smaller appetite,” says Samuel Hart, UK business unit director at Worldpanel by Numerator.
“The stronger pattern is consistent: brands grow when shoppers can see the job before they see the logo.”
He came to this conclusion because of long-term share figures.
“The top 20% of brands are losing long-term share,’ says Hart. ”Key winners are those managing to bring new products or propositions against specific needs."
“Consumers are starting to care more about what a food can offer them than about the name on the package,” agrees Destini Moody, sports dietitian at Flex Therapists CEUs. “Brand names still matter, but many shoppers now check nutrition labels more carefully. They may look at protein, fibre, sugar, calories and ingredients. They want to know whether a food can give them energy, keep them full or support a personal health goal.”
Busy lives are another reason that consumers are more interested in what’s on the label rather than who it’s made by.
“Consumers want simple information,” says Moody. “They want to know what a product offers, why it may be useful and how it can fit into a meal. Clear and accurate food labels can help them make these choices.”
And GLP-1s are another driver for information-led choices. “The growing interest in clean-label products and the wider use of GLP-1 medications have encouraged some consumers to think more carefully about their food choices,” says Moody. “They want each meal or snack to provide important nutrients.”
A sense of occasion
Foods that fit the occasion consumers are looking for is another aspect of success, according to the report by Worldpanel by Numerator.
Warburton’s stays at the top as Britain’s most chosen FMCG brand and it’s a good example of how answering a problem rather than relying on branding is working – in this case by expanding the occasions that products can be placed into.
With 655.9m consumer reach points (CRPs) – calculated by measuring the number of households in a market, the percentage of households buying a specific brand and the number of interactions with a brand across a category in a year – and household penetration rising to 86.3%, Worldpanel attributes Warburton’s success to diversification into bagels, wraps, crumpets and thins ‘to fit new eating moments’.
“These NPDs aren’t going to be getting them into many dinner occasions,” says Hart. “The point here is it makes them viable for a wider variety of breakfast or lunch occasions. There are certain contexts where you would consider bread or toast, but for example a crumpet thin then allows you to cater to a lighter breakfast at only 61 calories each – and they’re HFSS compliant, so they can be on gondola ends for promotions." These are premium retail displays positioned at the ends of supermarket aisles.
Owning the formats
Different formats of a single product can also cater to consumer’s occasion desires as long as it’s clear what they’re for.
According to the report, ‘the same product can thrive or stall depending on how clearly its occasion is owned’, meaning that product occasion ownership ties to success.
“The example I always like to give here is Maltesers,” says Hart. “The exact same product of the Maltesers ball can cater to three different occasions based on the packaging alone – meal deals/lunch in the small snack bag, sharing with the larger sharing bags – particularly well-catering for evening TV moments – and then boxes for something more premium/gift-led.
Solutions are the way forward
There are many other problems that consumers want solved for them, including cost and portion size, so brands need to combine all of these into clearly defined solutions.
Where brands could once rely on kudos, they’re now facing savvier consumers. “As a registered dietitian, I have noticed that people are becoming more practical about food. They are asking simple questions: Does it taste good? Is it affordable? Does it give me energy? Will it help me feel full or support my health goals?” says Moody.
