The Grocer – 20 July 2019

focus on... home baking

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Sugar takes a hit: top 10 home baking brands by value

● Six of the top 10 home

baking brands suffered

value declines this year,

as shoppers spent less on

the category and turned

to alternative products

such as non-refined

sugar or sweeteners.

● “Last year’s sugar

tax and the growing

awareness of the impact

of sugar on health is

driving consumers to

reconsider their sugar

intake,” says Nielsen

analyst Alice Auduon.

“That’s driven many

to look for alternative

sweetening products,

which has meant a rise in

the use of products like

stevia instead of sugar.”

● That movement is

evidenced by the £300k

gain enjoyed by low-

calorie sugar alternative

brand Canderel this year.

● Billington’s is another

brand benefiting from

changing habits,

accruing an extra £400k

in sales of its unrefined

cane sugars.

● On the flipside,

traditional sugar brand

Tate & Lyle took the

hardest hit among the

top brands, losing £4.4m

in sales. The brand says

the continued decline in

sugar has been an issue

for several years, but

maintains a turnaround

may be on the cards

as interest in premium

sugar variants grows.

● Allinson attributes

its extra £400k in sales

to distribution gains

across the mults, as well

as the launch of its 500g

format. That translated

into an extra 130,000

shoppers, says the brand.

It plans to maintain

growth with a continued

focus on innovations

like its new Time Saver

Yeast and flavoured

bread additions, which

launched this year.

Source: Nielsen 52 w/e 18 May 2019 For the full data, visit thegrocer.co.uk

Tate & Lyle (▼ 6.5%)

£63m

Whitworths (▼ 1.5%)

£41.2m

Billington’s (▲ 2.6%)

£16.5m

Canderel (▲ 2.6%)

£13.1m

Silver Spoon (▼ 1.7%)

£55.4m

Betty Crocker (▼ 3.5%)

£29.9m

Dr Oetker (▲ 2.3%)

£13.8m

Lyle’s (▼ 4.3%)

£12.4m

McDougalls (▼ 3.7%)

£10.3m

Allinson (▲ 4.6%)

£9.7m

“There seems to be a

ceiling of around £5 in

home baking

ingredients”

Nielsen Scantrack monitors weekly data from a

national network of EPoS scanners to represent

sales in grocery multiples, co-ops, multiple off-

licences, independents, forecourts, convenience

multiples, symbols and online grocery retailers.

fewer shopping trips [Kantar]. Despite

these figures, baking kit brand Bakedin

believes there is mileage in a more premium

cake mix. That was the inspiration behind

launching products such as its decadent

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie Kit (p43) and

Salted Caramel Cupcake mix in Ocado ear-

lier this year.

“There’s only so much you can do with

a standard tier, single-bag cake mix,” says

Bakedin managing director Joseph Munns.

“The more premium options contain multiple

bags and offer something more exciting and

impressive, as well as replicating the baking

from scratch experience more closely.”

Bake Off effect endures

As is so often the case in home baking, The

Great British Bake Off is proving an inspira-

tion, he believes. Standard cakes are becom-

ing less acceptable as the show’s bakers are

putting together ever more complex creations.

“The show has been going for a good few

years now, but it’s continued to make Brits

more adventurous with their bakes,” he says.

“The increasingly weird and wacky creations

produced in the show inspire home bakers,

and often they are driven to the premium

options in the baking aisle because they’re

the most interesting to make.”

This comes with a proviso, though.

Bakedin is keen to emphasise the competi-

tive price point of its lines. “We’re looking at

a price point that is in line with higher tier

own label products,” says Munns. Orchard

Valley, which is in the midst of developing a

high-end range, says it is also keeping a keen

eye on price. All of which suggests there is a

cap on how much bakers will pay, even for

products with premium credentials.

Paul Hargreaves, CEO at Cotswold Fayre,

believes price will be critical to the success

of innovations this year. “There seems to

be a ceiling of around £5 in home baking

ingredients, and products priced higher than

that struggle to gain any real traction,” says

Hargreaves. “Quality is important for bakers,

but so is a decent price.”

Indeed, prices have remained flat pretty

much across the board in home baking over

the past year. Some have even fallen mar-

ginally. Flour, for example, costs 1% less per

pack than it did the year before. That’s largely

down to base prices remaining steady, along-

side a 2.3% increase in sales on promotion.

Temporary price reductions were the driv-

ing force behind this, up 5.1%. So it seems

price is still very much an important factor

for consumers.

That means brands and retailers will need

to follow a strict recipe if they want to get

the category back in the black. If they can

combine premium, exciting innovation

with affordable prices and easy recipes for

even amateur bakers, they just might avoid

another year of falling flat.