The Grocer – 17 August 2019

Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk 17 August 2019 | The Grocer | 41

Roast chicken

dinners

.m

(▲ 7.7 %)

Roast beef

dinners

.m

(▼ 10.9%)

Roast pork

dinners

.m

(▼ 9.1%)

Roast lamb

dinners

.m

(▼ 15.5%)

Roast turkey

dinners

.m

(▼ 18.4%)

● Chicken dinners have

continued their upward

trajectory with a 7.7% rise

in occasions. That means

they now account for 40%

of all roast dinners.

● That’s down to “lower

price points and because

it is a leaner protein” says

Kantar. “With all the noise

around  exitarian diets,

people are more likely to

drop red meat from the

plate,” it adds.

● By contrast, all other

forms of roast dinner are

su ering from a decline.

That’s led to a 3% drop in

roast dinner occasions at a

total level.

● When it comes to

accompaniments, the

picture is more positive.

“We have witnessed an

increase in the traditional

accompaniments,” says

Kantar.

● Yorkshire puddings were

a big winner here, gaining

an extra 15.6 million

occasions. Meanwhile

roast potatoes shot up to be

present in a whopping 17.9

million occasions. Broccoli

and green beans also saw a

1% rise in consumption.

● That coincides with an

increase in the average

number of items per roast

dinner occasion from 5.6 to

5.8 items.

Chicken & Yorkshire puds rise: roast dinners by occasion

Kantar’s Worldpanel FMCG service monitors consumer behaviour across Great Britain. Its primary panel tracks

take-home purchases of 30,000 demographically representative households. Data on consumption habits,

nutrition and out of home sales is collected through subsidiary panels. Visit kantarworldpanel.com for details.

Source: Kantar 52 w/e 24 March 2019 For the full data, visit thegrocer.co.uk

shoppers will spend an average of 90p more
per serving on a roast dinner compared with
an evening meal.
Premier Foods believes people will pay
more for a genuine bene t. “Consumers are
prepared to pay more for a product that’s
worth it and o ers ease and convenience,”
says category marketing director Helen
Touchais. That’s backed up by the popular-
ity of its higher-priced Bisto Best range, which
has seen an 8.7% upli in value sales.
The latest innovation from the Bisto brand

• its microwave-ready gravy – also comes at
  a price premium of £2.49 for four pots. It’s
  aimed at consumers who will fork out for that
  “greater convenience”. Plus, there is a 25%
  less salt variant to cater for the health-con-
  scious crowd.

Health bene ts

That touches on another area of importance
in the roast dinner market: health. It was a
motivating factor behind 13.1% of roast din-
ners in the past year. That’s up from just 9.4%
the previous year.
So consumers aren’t just willing to pay a
premium for taste – they will splash out on
convenient products that deliver on health,
too. That insight lies at the core of frozen
plant-based brand Strong Roots.
CEO and founder Samuel Dennigan
stresses that “taste is the main criterion” for
all food. The key is combining that taste with
some virtuous credentials.
“Consumers are not only looking for prod-
ucts with negligible quantities of sugar and
salt, they’re looking for forti ed products to
ensure they get the nutrients they need,” he
explains. “They want brands to deliver across
all of their nutritional requirements while
maintaining a clean ingredient deck.”
Ful lling that need helped Strong Roots
quadruple sales of its vegetable fries and
wedges last year [Nielsen 52 w/e 8 September
2018]. That’s despite prices being on the
higher end of the spectrum – a 500g bag of
its sweet potato fries is £3 in Tesco.
Quorn is another brand capitalising on this
mix of health and convenience. The brand
says sales of its chicken-style roast are up
8%, while the beef-style roast is up a whop-
ping 18.5%.
That’s partly down to the plant-based
boom. But the high protein and  bre creden-
tials touted on pack can’t have hurt, either.
“People are increasingly wanting to eat
healthily and the roast is no di erent – espe-
cially because it’s a family meal,” says Quorn
marketing director Alex Glen.
Essentially, consumers want all the health,
taste and tradition of the old-style roast din-
ner, but without the hours slaving in the
kitchen. And if you can get prep time under
52 minutes, all the better. Brits don’t ask for
much, do they?

The meals

The accompaniments

Roast potatoes

.m

(▲ 4.6%)

Broccoli

  .  m

(▲ 1.0%)

Yorkshire

puddings

.m

(▲ 5.6%)

Roast potatoes

  .  m  .  m

( (▲ 1.0%)