The Grocer – 20 July 2019

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4 | The Grocer | 20 July 2019 Get the full story at thegrocer.co.uk

Home baking sales

drop a s Bake Off

effect loses steam

Brits may still be watch-

ing The Great British

Bake Off in their droves,

but rising concerns about

sugar mean fewer are

being inspired to make

their own creations.

Shoppers bought home

baking items an aver-

age of 13 times in the past

year, down 2.2% on the

year before, according to

exclusive Kantar figures

for The Grocer.

That saw the home

baking market fall 1.7%

to £694.8m for the year

ending 24 March.

Kantar said the decline

flew in the face of the

trend towards scratch

cooking, which grew 6%

in number of occasions

over the past year.

Sugar concerns

emerged as one reason

behind the fall in bak-

ing sales. Sugar sales fell

1.6% to £124.6m, and

many brands suffered

slumps in value. Tate &

Lyle fell 6.5% to £63m

and Silver Spoon was

down 1.7% to £55.4m,

according to Nielsen data

compiled for the year

ending 18 May.

By contrast, sweetener

brand Canderel grew

2.6% to £13.1m, which

Nielsen put down to con-

sumers turning away

from refined sugar “to

alternatives such as non-

refined sugar or sweeten-

ing products”.

Dr Oetker said these

sugar concerns were

making baking less of a

snack option. It pointed

to Kantar research that

found older shoppers had

turned to home baking

for 19,000 fewer snack-

ing occasions over the

past year. “Older con-

sumers, representing

33% of home bakers, are

generally looking to cut

back on indulgence for

snacking and not engag-

ing with the category as

they once did,” said Jen

Brown, head of market-

ing for cakes and desserts

at Dr Oetker UK.

However, Brown said

consumers were willing

to splash out when they

did indulge. “The decline

in snacking is driving

the trend for indulgent

baking, as consumers

want something deli-

cious when they do treat

themselves to a dessert.

This also means they are

willing to pay a price pre-

mium,” she said.

Kantar figures show

premium own label lines

have done particularly

well, up 16.8% in value.

Emma Weinbren

Nearly half of food ads from
6pm to 9pm were HFSS

Cancer Research UK has
called on food compa-
nies to be “braver” by
advertising healthier
alternatives in peak slots
dominated by high fat,
salt and sugar brands.
It comes as the char-
ity released figures show-
ing HFSS food ads made
up about half of all ads
shown on the UK’s big-
gest channels at times
popular with families.
Based on Nielsen data
for May 2018, CRUK
reported 49% of food
ads shown between 6pm
and 9pm in May 2018 on
ITV1, Channel 4, Channel
5 and Sky One were for
HFSS products. Fast
food and delivery brands
accounted for more than
a quarter of those. Fruit &
vegetables were the pri-
mary focus of just 5% of
all food ad slots.
Meanwhile, 89% of the
HFSS products shown
fell within Public Health
England’s calorie and
sugar reduction pro-
gramme categories, or
were within the scope of
the Soft Drinks Industry
Levy.
Broadcasters were
heavily reliant on HFSS
ads despite only deriving

Brands urged to

be ‘brave’ and

advertise non-

HFSS products

a small proportion of

their advertising income

from such ads, CRUK

found. On the channels

covered by the study,

only 8% of broadcast-

ers’ advertising revenue

came from HFSS ads dur-

ing May 2018 – and only

3% came from ads shown

from 6pm to 9pm.

CRUK also claimed

many advertisers had

the capacity to switch to

advertising a non-HFSS

product from their range.

For 54% of the HFSS

products advertised

before the watershed,

there was a non-HFSS

alternative within the

brand that could be

advertised instead, fur-

ther reducing any impact

on broadcasters’ rev-

enue. That figure rose

to 81% of HFSS adverts

when including products

where the parent com-

pany owned a brand with

a non-HFSS portfolio,

which could have been

advertised instead.

“This research shows

not only that tens of

thousands of children are

still exposed to HFSS ads

in peak times, but that

there is a real chance for

the industry to change,”

said CRUK policy man-

ager Malcolm Clark.

“Food companies can

make a switch to adver-

tising healthier prod-

ucts that already exist

within their portfolios if

they are brave enough.

If not, then government

action such as the move

to a 9pm watershed will

hopefully achieve it.”

Growing concerns about sugar are a major factor, especially for older shoppers

Ian Quinn

Focus on Home Baking

p