Focus On Savoury Pastries and Meat Snacks: 16 November

Focus On: Savoury pastries and meat snacks by Rob Brown and Natalie Brown

Download feature synopsis PDF here

Publishing: 16 November

Advertising deadline: 4 November

Submissions deadline: 27 October

The Story

The classics are back. Sausage rolls, shepherd’s pie and pasties are making a triumphant return to the British menu. It’s partly down to love for all things retro, which is seeing seventies party food enjoy a renaissance. However, this is retro food with a twist with new gastropub-inspired ranges. Some have taken inspiration from the likes of Morocco, while Greggs has famously adapted the sausage roll for the vegan audience. So what is driving this love for modern classics? To what extent is retail following the out-of-home arena? Who is capitalising on the trend, and who risks being left behind?

Key themes:

Savoury pastries: Which are benefiting most from the return of the classics? And who is leading the way in innovation?

Meat snacks: How are meat snack brands adapting to the trend for a twist on the classic? How are they tempting shoppers through new formats?

Price: Average prices are up across virtually every sector in the category this year. How has the trend for traditional products with a modern twist driven premiumisation in the category, who is driving this forward?

Brands: Premium and experimental brands are growing. However, there is also room for standard pastry brands. What is the secret to success?

Retail strategy: Retail ranges accounted for more than 80% of category growth this year. However, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons have all seen own label sales slip into decline. What’s going on here? Who is driving growth? And do the big four need to be more experimental to drive up sales?

Christmas: Iceland is set to unveil a full Christmas dinner in a pie for the festive season. Who else in the category capitalising on the most wonderful time of the year, and what are the festive twists on traditional products hitting shelves this winter?

Salt reduction: In August Action on Salt published a warning that one in four savoury picnic foods are dangerously high in salt. The group also pointed out that almost a third of the 555 products studied have no colour coded front of pack labelling, making it harder for consumers to make healthy choices. Could these findings put a black mark on the picnic-friendly products in the category? Who in savoury pastries and meat snacks is trying to get on the right side of salt guidelines, and how much do consumers really care about salt intake these days?

4 x innovations: We identify four new products or product ranges that have not appeared in The Grocer before. including launch date, RSP and a picture of each.

Kantar data: Using Kantar data, we explain the factors driving growth in the savoury pastries market.

Nielsen data: Using Nielsen data, we explain the rise and fall in performance of the top 10 savoury pastry and meat snack brands.