As the saying goes: when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. And while that might not be the most appropriate adage to sum up a change in legislation that penalises sugary food and drinks, it’s an attitude many fmcg challenger brands are embracing ahead of the planned HFSS clampdowns.

Indeed, many challengers are hopeful the changes to legislation will present an opportunity to compete more fairly with the major players. Take Border Biscuits. While its products are unapologetically HFSS – they rely on butter and sugar for texture and taste – the brand has identified a “potential £190m” category opportunity for biscuits like its own after the new rules come into force.

In a media briefing hosted by the brand last week, its MD Paul Parkins said the legislation would influence retailers to filter out some of the “bad” products in the biscuits category, helping “accessible premium” brands like Border “gain net space” on shelves.

It’s a sentiment Candy Kittens MD Ed Williams shares, telling The Grocer “the cream will kind of rise to the top” in a recent interview. At £3 a bag, the brand’s gourmet sweets certainly don’t come cheap, but its premium positioning will help the brand “come into play even stronger after HFSS”, argues Williams.

“We’re saying… we understand sweets are indulgent, and we understand you shouldn’t be eating them every day. And when you do eat a bag of sweets, make sure it’s going to be the best bag of sweets you can possibly have to make it a really worthwhile treat.”

But regardless of the quality of their offering, optimistic challenger brands might be getting ahead of themselves – because the fmcg behemoths have some tricks up their sleeves to help them navigate the changing supermarket aisles.

Take Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. At The Grocer’s HFSS Clampdown Conference this week, CCEP GB category development director Oliver Crick spoke about how the soft drink giant’s canny cross-category merchandising strategies would continue to drive sales after the legislative changes.

CCEP has already delivered successful activations in the alcohol aisles for Schweppes, by putting the brand’s sugary tonics within reaching distance of vodka and gin SKUs. Crick explained how a similar stunt might also be pulled for Coke, by placing its Original Taste cans alongside chilled pizzas.

These examples offer some insight into how major HFSS brands like Coca-Cola could continue to dominate in grocery in a post-HFSS landscape. After all, they have the biggest budgets to splash on eye-catching, in-store activations to help them do so.

But healthier challenger brands shouldn’t rest on their laurels, either. Although they might have gained shelf space in anticipation of the restrictions, the mass of non-HFSS innovation unveiled by the big players this week demonstrates how their foothold in grocery is precarious.

Walkers, for example, this week unveiled its first fully non-HFSS crisps range with “nearly half the salt” of its standard offering, while KP Snacks told The Grocer of its plans to reformulate Tyrrells, Popchips, Hula Hoops Puft and Penn State products to make them HFSS-compliant. CCEP, too, plans to reformulate Capri-Sun to make it non-HFSS ahead of October.

While challenger brands often have the upper hand on behemoths in terms of daring innovation, the fmcg giants have shown they’re willing to make bold moves to drive sales and hold onto valuable shelf space in a post-HFSS retail environment. Plus, their pockets are deep enough to help them navigate the shift.

The future might not be so sweet for challengers after all. 

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