The Grocer – 10 August 2019

focus on... rice & noodles

44 | The Grocer | 10 August 2019 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 10 August 2019 | The Grocer | 45

Oodles of noodles: top  ve noodle and ready-to-heat rice brands

● In noodles, the picture

is looking pretty positive.

Nine of the top 10 brands

have gained sales in the

past year, amassing a

collective £2.1m.

● Some of this is simply

down to a greater

presence. “Amoy, Blue

Dragon and Bare Naked

have boosted their

numbers by securing

extra shelf space in the

retailers,” says Ana Avila,

senior client analytics

executive at Nielsen.

● Avila says the standout

success of Bare Naked –

which gained £350k in

the past year – is down to

one listing in particular.

“The new introduction of

its noodles in Tesco this

year has brought new

shoppers to the category,

bringing a halo e ect in

other retailers,” she says.

● Thai Taste is the only

top 10 noodle brand in

decline, down 4.5% in

value to £519k. “This has

been purely driven by

the promotions,” says

Avila. “The brand has

experienced a decline

in units sold on deal

due to more expensive

promotional prices

and lower o -shelf

distribution.”

● In rice, the picture

is more mixed. Four of

the top 10 ready-to-heat

brands are in decline:

Uncle Ben’s, Merchant

Gourmet, Cauli Rice and

Seeds of Change.

● That’s partly down

to the growth of private

label, which has soared

ahead 14.1% in value

• a higher percentage
  change than any of the
  top 10 brands.
  ● The biggest loser is
  Tilda, which has shed
  £1.8m. That comes amid
  a rise in average price,
  while market leader
  Uncle Ben’s has reduced
  prices and gained £730k.

Source: Nielsen 52 w/e 13 July 2019 For the full data, visit thegrocer.co.uk

Amoy (▲ 4.1%)

.m

Blue Dragon (▲ 8.8%)

.m

Clearspring (▲ 25.7%)

.m

Tilda (▼ 3.4%)

.m

Sharwood’s (▲ 5.3%)

 .  m

Bare Naked (▲ 104.6%)

.m

Uncle Ben’s (▲ 0.6%)

.m

Veetee (▼ 10.2%)

.m

Merchant Gourmet (▲ 12.3%)

.m

Cauli Rice (▼ 7.7%)

.m

“ Consumers are now

utilising fresh noodles

as an everyday healthy

lunch”

Nielsen Scantrack monitors weekly data from a

national network of EPoS scanners to represent

sales in grocery multiples, co-ops, multiple off-

licences, independents, forecourts, convenience

multiples, symbols and online grocery retailers.

rice and a mix of veg, meat, egg or tofu
and topped with kimchi – is just one food
trend that’s favouring the category right now.
“A multicultural society and an increasingly
connected world are piquing consumer inter-
est and driving the demand for products that
o er  avourful and authentic experiences,”
says Anna Beheshti, brand lead at Tilda.
“Consumers are becoming more aware of
cultural cuisines and want access to products
that will help them to recreate these dishes
in the home. To stay current, brands need to
respond to this with relevant NPD.”
Mars’ Forristal says certain cuisines are
proving particularly popular. “We’re seeing
much more Caribbean with people talking
about jerk, which is coming through really
strongly in condiments, and a move away
from Tex Mex to a more authentic, lighter,
fresher kind of Mexican.”
Oriental no longer only means Chinese
chow mein or sweet and sour, either.
“Seventeen per cent of consumers are actively
looking to try new and inventive Asian food,”
says Anke von Hanstein, brand manager for

Amoy at Kra Heinz, quoting Nielsen  gures.

“Consumers returning from ethnic travel hot-

spots such as Thailand and Bali, where street

food is popular and noodle-based dishes fea-

ture on most menus, are driving this trend.”

Instant snacks are proving particularly

innovative in this area. Premier Foods is

launching Japanese bestseller Cup Noodle

to capitalise on growing demand for more

authentic far- ung products (right). Unilever

has unveiled Jerk Chicken and Thai Green

Curry variants for its Pot Noodle brand. It took

a similarly exotic approach for the resurrec-

tion of Pot Rice, which includes “improved

recipes inspired by  avours from India and

Japan including Vegetable Curry, Chicken

Teriyaki and Chicken Risotto variants.”

Premier Foods is also spotting an opportu-

nity in exotic rice. That inspired the launch

of a range of Sharwood’s Curry Rice Pots in

chicken tikka, korma and jalfrezi variants.

“The rice pot snack sector is now worth over

£10m,” says Naomi Shooman, brand director

for quick meals, snacks & soups at Premier

Foods. “The launch brings a well-known and

loved brand to help further increase retailers’

sales within the category while attracting

new shoppers to pot snack products.”

As shoppers get more adventurous with  a-

vours, they are also experimenting with new

formats. That means there’s plenty of room for

growth outside of instant snacks, too.

“While much of the category growth in

recent years has been driven by pot snacks,

which continue to grow, noodle blocks are

now growing at a faster rate of 6% in value,”

says Shooman, quoting IRI numbers for the

year to 13 July. “Our Nissin Soba brand is the

UK’s number one authentic noodle [IRI], with

a range of  avours in our pot snacks port-

folio, from chilli to teriyaki. Soba’s repeat

Rice (ready-to-heat)

Noodles (excluding instant snacks)