The Grocer – 10 August 2019

focus on... rice & noodles

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● Rice and noodles are

normally a planned

purchase, and they are

quite likely planned for

a particular use. Most

households have a limited

meal repertoire – perhaps

five to seven ‘go to’ meals

• and at least one of these
  usually involves rice or
  noodles.
  ● This is important
  because it means ‘rice’ or
  ‘noodles’ are normally not
  the first thought in the meal
  planner’s mind. It’s more
  likely to be ‘chilli con carne’
  o r ‘c u r r y ’.

● Once that meal decision

is made, the purchase of

rice or noodles is vital.

The key implication is that

from a category rather than

a brand perspective, you

don’t need price reduction

promotions to drive sales.

● Multibuys may be a

much better mechanism

for increasing basket size.

Given that these products

are often integral to core

repertoire meals, it is good

for the shopper to have the

cupboard stocked up.

● What is most important

for the category in the long

term is the hard graft of

getting meals that feature

rice or noodles increasingly

into the household’s

repertoire. There are no

short cuts, but that can be

achieved through recipes,

influencers and sampling.

Jeremy Garlick,

Insight Traction

Planned purchases: how consumers shop rice and noodles

Shopper Intelligence is an annual multi Category, multi Retailer survey of UK shoppers. Enquiries to http://www.

shopperintelligence.com.

Why are shoppers buying rice and noodles?

What is motivating rice and noodle purchases?

Source: Shopper Intelligence survey of 77,000 shoppers

Casual dinner Formal dinner Lunch at home

to compromise on quality, nutrition or fla-

vour,” says Lee.

That’s an important point. Instant snack

brands have hardly been a healthy option in

the past – Pot Noodle, for one, has actively

embraced its guilty pleasure status – but that

is starting to change.

More wholesome products are coming onto

the market and attracting new audiences as

a result. Take Kabuto’s new kids range, for

example (p53). B&B Studio, which helped

Kabuto come up with the range, sees poten-

tial among these more premium brands.

“These brands understand that, in addi-

tion to strong flavours, today’s consumers

are seeking healthy, natural, authentic and

sophisticated products,” says B&B strategy

director Lisa Desforges.

That shift in behaviour prompted Unilever

to go beyond Pot Noodle with the launch of its

PrepCo brand last April. “We saw a clear gap

in the market for a healthier lunch option that

also tastes great,” says Unilever’s Detsiny.

“High in protein and made with natural

ingredients, PrepCo is a brand that’s simpli-

fying healthier choices in the mini meals seg-

ment, and the range is helping to bring a new

demographic of consumers to the category,

which has resulted in incremental sales.”

Premiumisation

That quality comes at a price. PrepCo retails

around the £2 mark, double the price of its

more budget Pot Rice brand. Similarly, Mr

Lee’s retails at a higher point than market

leader Pot Noodle.

Lee believes that isn’t a deterrent.

“Consumers are more astute than ever and

understand they get what they pay for,” he

says. “With high nutritional value, quality

ingredients and authentic, gastronomic fla-

vours that have taken time to develop and

perfect, we won’t compromise just to meet a

lower price point. Plus, we know shoppers are

willing to pay more for a premium product.”

Still, not everyone is willing to pay more.

That Tesco and Asda are no longer stocking

PrepCo – it disappeared from their shelves

in May and June respectively – suggests it

may not be a universally popular proposition.

Plus, the performance of rice brands

appears to be strongly linked to how much

they cost. Ready-to-heat market leader Uncle

Ben’s sold an extra 1.2 million units last year

amid a marginal decrease in prices. By

“ Rice and noodles are

piggybacking on the

growth of flexitarian

diets”

100%

0

PLANNED REGULAR

PURCHASE

PLANNED FOR A

PARTICULAR USE

UNPLANNED PURCHASE

ON PROMOTION

UNPLANNED PURCHASE

NOT ON PROMOTION

TOTAL GROCERY RICE & NOODLES

14%

23%

55%

58%

15%

11% 9% 11%

50% 39% 17%