Sales of healthier bread are crumbling as credit-crunched consumers switch to regular loaves.
While the recession has boosted overall bread sales 6% to £1.9bn in the year to 8 August, low-calorie loaves have fallen out of favour, reveals the latest sales data from Nielsen.
Sales of Warburtons' WeightWatchers bread have slumped 13.5% to £28.6m. while those of Premier Foods' Hovis Nimble brand have dropped 8.7% to £13.2m.
The figures were played down by Caroline Kellett, customer category manager at Warburtons, which makes the low-calorie bread for WeightWatchers. Health was still a key sales driver, she insisted.
"Our research shows that in difficult financial times more and more shoppers are reducing the number of discretionary purchases and instead opting for versatile staples that meet the needs of the whole family," said Kellett.
"One of the macro drivers for consumption is health, which, although behind practicality and enjoyment as consumer drivers, still has a significant 22% of people saying it is the decision driver."
However, Premier Foods, which brought the struggling Nimble brand under the Hovis banner last December, admitted that the recession had hampered its rescue strategy for the brand.
"The decline in diet products can be partly attributed to the recession," said Claire Low, marketing manager at Hovis. "With families looking to make savings, shoppers are looking for foods that will appeal to everyone. In the past, a mother may have bought herself a separate diet loaf, but now she will eat the same bread she buys for her children."
A bread buyer for a major retailer said that heavy promotions on standard loaves were also likely to be hitting sales of healthier bread. "The category is promotionally driven at the moment, with emphasis on the standard 800g loaves of Warburtons, Hovis and Kingsmill which seem to always be on a £1 deal."
While the recession has boosted overall bread sales 6% to £1.9bn in the year to 8 August, low-calorie loaves have fallen out of favour, reveals the latest sales data from Nielsen.
Sales of Warburtons' WeightWatchers bread have slumped 13.5% to £28.6m. while those of Premier Foods' Hovis Nimble brand have dropped 8.7% to £13.2m.
The figures were played down by Caroline Kellett, customer category manager at Warburtons, which makes the low-calorie bread for WeightWatchers. Health was still a key sales driver, she insisted.
"Our research shows that in difficult financial times more and more shoppers are reducing the number of discretionary purchases and instead opting for versatile staples that meet the needs of the whole family," said Kellett.
"One of the macro drivers for consumption is health, which, although behind practicality and enjoyment as consumer drivers, still has a significant 22% of people saying it is the decision driver."
However, Premier Foods, which brought the struggling Nimble brand under the Hovis banner last December, admitted that the recession had hampered its rescue strategy for the brand.
"The decline in diet products can be partly attributed to the recession," said Claire Low, marketing manager at Hovis. "With families looking to make savings, shoppers are looking for foods that will appeal to everyone. In the past, a mother may have bought herself a separate diet loaf, but now she will eat the same bread she buys for her children."
A bread buyer for a major retailer said that heavy promotions on standard loaves were also likely to be hitting sales of healthier bread. "The category is promotionally driven at the moment, with emphasis on the standard 800g loaves of Warburtons, Hovis and Kingsmill which seem to always be on a £1 deal."
No comments yet