Bread sales figures are very misleading

Bread sales figures are very misleading

Jon Wilson Marketing director, Allied Bakeries Sir; The figures quoted from Warburtons Bakery Review in your story about bread sales last week are misleading because the share data used are cherry-picked, with month-on-month figures hugely affected by promotional activity ('Kingsmill overtaken by own label bread sales', The Grocer, 29 September, p65). The review only looked at value data, which can be adversely affected by deep cut promotional activity that Warburtons chooses not to participate in. A volume figure should be looked at as well because this reflects what has actually been sold and consumed. The Grocer's analysis of the Warburtons report suggests own label is the number three brand. This is not so. This is only the case if you add together every own label SKU across all retailers. On that basis, Allied Bakeries could add all of its house brands together and would be well ahead of the aggregated own label position. Nielsen data shows the Kingsmill relaunch in February was a success. Comparing the 30 weeks post-launch (until 15 September 2007) to the 30 weeks prior to relaunch, Kingsmill's share grew from 15.6% to 16.9% (+1.3 points) in value terms, and in volume terms was up from 15.3% to 16.7% (+1.4 points). Over the same period, Warburtons' share increased by a similar amount in value, but in volume only grew share by one point. Kingsmill is growing faster than Warburtons.