foods. Other brands had a 20 per cent market share in total and private
label brands between them accounted for 58 per cent of the market. The
leading brands were losing sales to the private labels.
Despite a steady growth of pasta as a regular household staple, UK con-
sumption of over 75 000 tons and about two kilograms per person per year
was still far below consumption in other countries. In comparison, per capita
consumption in the US was four times that of the British consumers. Pasta
had only a 65 per cent household penetration in the UK but had higher pen-
etration in households with children. This boded well for the future.
Pasta was seen as healthy, wholesome, easy to prepare, cheap and a dish
for all seasons of the year. Pasta was likely to be of growing appeal as con-
sumers became more health and time conscious. There was also an overall
trend towards more experiential cooking as Italian as well as Asian
cooking ingredients became more available. The general awareness of
these ethnic foods and their varieties and tastes increased consumption
steadily and caused a substitution from other UK diets.
Nevertheless, there was a feeling that the UK consumer was still not well
educated about pasta, the many varieties and the value and qualities of
Italian food in general. There was a feeling that the arrival of branded man-
ufacturers would be necessary to really develop the market. Several years
ago, there was only private label pasta and branded pasta was few and far
between. The arrival of Buitoni in the late 1980s was welcomed because the
primary market development was to the benefit of all manufacturers.
Consumers were also confused about the several dozens of pasta avail-
abilities partly because of the proliferation of varieties and types of Italian
food in recent years. There was fresh, dry, frozen, and canned pasta. Fresh
pasta grew from almost nothing to about £12 million in 1992, a 300 per cent
increase from 1986. Some research houses estimated the market for fresh
pasta at £18 million in 1992. The two main varieties were filled or unfilled
fresh pasta. In the 1990s, the market was consistently growing at between
10 and 15 per cent a year.
The lion’s share of the over £100 million market went to dry pasta. Dry
pasta divided into different product forms such as spaghetti (42 per cent),
shapes, including spirals, twists, shells and bows (35.7 per cent), macaroni
(8.1 per cent), tagliatelle (5.8 per cent) and lasagne (6.6 per cent). The fastest
growing variety was shapes, which overtook spaghetti in terms of volume
in 1992. Nestlé served the frozen entries through the Findus brand.
Casa Buitoni Club
Around the years of 1991 and 1992, Buitoni announced a series of market-
ing activities to the press and retailers that would eventually lead to the
formation of a consumer club. It had been dubbed the Casa Buitoni Club
68 Relationship Marketing