Marmite will hate losing to Rowse Honey

Britain’s going sweet on honey. Rowse, the country’s biggest honey brand, has ousted Marmite from the top of our spreads bestsellers list, having added a staggering £6.8m to its top line on volumes up 17.2% [Nielsen 52 w/e 12 October].

So what’s gone right for Rowse? And how can its divisive rival compete? “Marmite suffers from a lack of versatility as it tends to just be put on toast,” says Kirstie Jamieson, marketing controller at Rowse. “We have been strongly communicating that honey can be used not just at breakfast, but for cooking, baking and as a natural cold remedy.”

Read The Grocer’s full Top Products Survey.

Clearly it’s paid off. But Waitrose jams & spreads buyer Tim Shaw has another suggestion. “Over the past year there has been a massive resurgence in the nation’s love of porridge and breakfast meals, which resulted in the popularity of honey increasing,” he says. “Our customers love the squeezable bottles as they are fuss-free and allow honey to be used easily in many different dishes and drinks.”

Jams and marmalades - particularly brands - have missed the sweet spot. Brands are down 1.5% on volumes down 6.4% own label is up 2.6% on volumes up 2.2%. A cut in deals, which has contributed to a 3.2% increase in average prices, is partly to blame.

“The supermarkets aren’t discounting and in a recessionary environment people will stick to own-label jams if the brands fail to offer enough innovation,” says David Atkinson, MD of grocery at Hain Daniels, whose Hartley’s brand has lost £3.4m in sales. “Jams and marmalades have been heavily discounted to sell volumes that’s something we’re moving away from. Our jams won’t be sold at £1 and our shelf presence, range and marketing have all significantly improved.”

Jam’s loss has been honey’s gain, says Jamieson: “There’s a huge trend around natural foods and honey is benefiting from that. Jams and marmalades are perceived as having large amounts of refined sugar in them, and a lot of our customer gains have been from jams I only see that continuing.”

Whether Rowse can continue to pull away from Marmite is another question. In August the spread launched its first TV campaign in two years. While controversial, Unilever claims value sales have increased 14.1% as a result. “The End Marmite Neglect campaign reminded consumers how much they love Marmite and as a result we’ve seen a significant rise in sales,” says brand manager Joanne O’Riada. “We’ll continue to promote Marmite in 2014.”

Rowse also has some tricks up its sleeve. Jamieson says 2014 could “possibly” see the launch of a new Rowse salad dressing.

Read The Grocer’s full Top Products Survey.