7 (4)
Carlsberg
Sales: £278.7m Growth: -19.9%
Nowhere in this year’s ranking is the power of Tesco more clearly writ. Carlsberg has suffered the greatest loss of the year, down an eye-watering £69.4m, after the lager was unceremoniously pulled from the retailer’s shelves last October.
“It was clearly a very challenging year,” says a spokeswoman. “Retailing is about taking tough decisions, which is what the brand experienced first-hand, and our challenge now is to compel customers to list our brands because of the value they deliver.”
That’s a tough call for any standard lager in the current climate, as drinkers continue to trade up to premium, world and craft offerings. A programme aimed at drumming home to drinkers that Carlsberg - the cheapest top 100 lager a year ago at £1.58 a litre, but now going for an average £1.66 - is worth paying more for has begun.
“We’re very focused on this mission, and as a business are executing against our value-over-volume strategy, centred on driving premium brands that deliver great taste and superior rate of sale,” adds the spokeswoman. “Carlsberg is at the heart of this work.”
With no news on a relisting by Tesco, the brand is throwing its weight into marketing and sponsorship in the hope of scoring points with footie fans. Last year saw the return of the iconic ‘If Carlsberg Did’ campaign backed by a £12m media spend, which it says marked a “strategic turning point”.
It’s also the official beer of UEFA Euro 2016, which it proudly displays through limited-edition packaging for Carlsberg and Carlsberg Export and in-store activity. “These activities, alongside the company’s revised strategy across its portfolio, have all been developed to help restore and drive brand equity, loyalty and growth,” the spokeswoman adds.
If premiumisation is indeed the name of the game, there’s no sign of Carlsberg having any success at it so far. While the standard lager lost a quarter of its value, £56.6m, Export is down 12.1%, or £10.2m; all other fruit variants have also suffered significant declines. The only Carlsberg product in any growth is one of the cheapest products by unit of alcohol in the top 100: Special Brew, which is up 3.8% to £35m on volumes up 0.8%.
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