focus on... rice & noodles
PB | 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 | 53
As far as tasty-sounding
names go, it’s fair to say
that devil’s tongue, voodoo
lily and elephant yam
miss the mark. Yet these
nicknames are behind one
of the hottest properties
in rice and noodles today:
konjac root.
Its low-calorie, low-carb
and high-fibre content are
making it an attractive
proposition for health-
conscious shoppers.
Plus, it is among the few
ingredients approved by
the EFSA to make weight-
loss claims.
“The appeal lies in its
biohacking ability – after
eating a konjac-based
food, your body believes
its natural set points have
been reached and feels full,
despite the calorie contentbeing low,” explains
Veronica Troy, behavioural
analyst at insight
consultancy Canvas8.
She says konjac root is
becoming “more popular
as Brits are increasingly
eschewing carbohydrates”.
That popularity has led
to a bumper year for Bare
Naked (below), which
emerged as the fastest-
growing player in rice and
noodles this year [Nielsen
52 w/e 13 July 2019]. Its
range of konjac-based rice,
pasta and noodle lines,
which contain less than 19calories per 100g, landed
listings in Tesco. That
helped its noodles more
than double in value this
year to be worth £1.3m,
while its rice lines grew
13.3% to £375k.
It’s not the only brand
reaping the benefits. Fellow
player Saitaku has reported
a 40% increase in sales of
its konjac shirataki noodles
this year. “Our typical
shopper for shirataki
noodles is a female
between 20 and 40 years
old who is interested in
Asian cuisine and reducing
her calorie intake without
changing the meals she
cooks at home,” says David
Binns, director of Saitaku
distributor R&D Foods.
That’s inspiring new
players to enter the market.
Aussie brand Slendier has
high hopes for its konjac
pasta, rice and noodles,
which hit UK shelves in
October last year. So long
as its marketing avoids
mentioning devil’s tongue,
it may be on to a winner.How devil’s
tongue is
heating up
noodle sales
two for £3, versus a standard price of £1.69
per pouch. Tesco’s now expansive range of
own-label ready-to-heat pouches sell for just
69p for a 250g pouch, or 99p for a blend of
quinoa and wholegrain rice.
Mars says these promotions are a way of
attracting new shoppers. “For some peo-
ple, critical price points like £1 will be the
trigger that gets them to come into the cat-
egory because a lower price removes the risk
for them,” says Nundy. “They stay with us
because they enjoy the taste and convenience
of our products.” Once they have secured that
loyalty, full-price sales are more likely. A total
of 60% of Uncle Ben’s sales are at full price,
Nundy adds.Commodity costs
That may not last long, though. For the threat
of own label is set to become even stronger as
rice gets more expensive. Rising commodity
costs are being driven by the weakness of
the pound, trade tariffs and the waxing and
waning of global supply and demand. Mintec
notes that the price of Indian basmati rice, for
example, has inflated by 42% year on year.
“Overproduction of basmati rice between
2016 and 2017 caused prices to dip and encour-
aged farmers to switch plantation to other
non-basmati varieties,” explains Mintec
analyst Alana Barros. “As a result, carryover
stocks have been depleted in the past year,
pushing prices higher amid strong demand
from Saudi Arabia and Iran.”
High prices could threaten future growth,
warns Yap at Wing Yip. “This sector remains
challenging with ongoing price levy increases
on US long grain varieties inevitably having
an effect on consumer purchasing habits,”
he explains. “Most consumers are looking to
cheaper alternatives with rice sourced from
Italy and Spain. However, prices there are
also beginning to rise as farmers struggle
with recurrent dry crops and face the tempta-
tion to move to more profitable crops.”
The heatwaves across Europe this summer
suggest that temptation will only grow. They
also suggest consumer concern over the envi-
ronmental cost of our food is going to rise.
Which means the category will no longer be
able to rely solely on trendy flavours, conveni-
ent products and low prices to drive growth.
It also needs to show a real move towards
becoming more sustainable.
That may not wait until 2025.“ This sector remains
challenging with price
levy increases on USlong grain varieties”