Consumers are keen on low fat lines but they are not giving up on indulgence
Big headlines warning of an obesity epidemic have struck a chord with chubby shoppers who are filling their baskets with healthier cakes and biscuits.
The healthy sector is the fastest-growing in biscuits - up 14.8% year-on-year to £264.6m [TNS Superpanel, 52 w/e August 15, 2004].
Everyday biscuits are growing by 2.4% and account for 14.4% of category value, while healthier biscuits account for 15.8%.
Simon Smith, marketing director at Fox’s, says: “I think healthy biscuits are overtaking everyday biscuits.” Fox’s recently launched its Officially Low Fat range to capitalise on the trend.
Cereal bars are in vogue, and have the added advantage of being seen as a breakfast substitute.
Key players are Nestlé’s Ski cereal bars and Sveltesse bars along with United Biscuits’ new Go Ahead! Yogurt Breaks - biscuit with fruit filling and a yogurt flavour topping.
Paul Selvey, UBUK’s head of consumer marketing for convenience, plans to develop the product next year, and he adds: “There’s a huge opportunity in healthy biscuits.”
Low fat cakes are becoming more popular, too, and Anthony Alan Foods’
Weight Watchers Cake brand has grown 107% in the year to March 2004 [TNS].
Sarah Morgan, marketing manager, says: “Consumers clearly want the choice to be able to buy great-tasting, healthy-eating cakes, but the goal is not to create healthier products as such, so much as to create excellent products that also happen to be better for you.”
Sometimes it’s important for shoppers to avoid certain foods, such as wheat and gluten, leading the multiple retailers’ to ramp up their ‘free from’ fixtures with speciality cakes and biscuits.
Trufree says 21% of consumers visiting this fixture are shopping for biscuits, and it is constantly adding new lines such as Chocolate Nobbles.
But all this interest in healthy products doesn’t mean shoppers are completely avoiding their old favourites - it just means they’ll indulge in full fat cakes and biscuits in the evening or at weekends to reward themselves for eating healthier products at other times.
“Consumers have a ‘saints and sinners’ approach - they like to indulge but at other times they’ll be more healthy,” says Fox’s Smith.
Graham Walker, Nestlé’s sales communications manager, says: “People have a debit and credit attitude to consumption. They’re happy to treat themselves at certain times of the day.”
Sarah Lewis, Co-operative Group category marketing manager, says there has been little evidence to suggest that health and diet issues have impacted significantly on overall cake consumption.
And Nigel Ashton, category controller for Nisaway, reckons there has been an increase in demand for healthier food. “This increased health awareness as a result of lifestyle changes and the need for eating on the move have led to huge demand for healthy snacking options, and the biscuits category offers huge potential.”
Big headlines warning of an obesity epidemic have struck a chord with chubby shoppers who are filling their baskets with healthier cakes and biscuits.
The healthy sector is the fastest-growing in biscuits - up 14.8% year-on-year to £264.6m [TNS Superpanel, 52 w/e August 15, 2004].
Everyday biscuits are growing by 2.4% and account for 14.4% of category value, while healthier biscuits account for 15.8%.
Simon Smith, marketing director at Fox’s, says: “I think healthy biscuits are overtaking everyday biscuits.” Fox’s recently launched its Officially Low Fat range to capitalise on the trend.
Cereal bars are in vogue, and have the added advantage of being seen as a breakfast substitute.
Key players are Nestlé’s Ski cereal bars and Sveltesse bars along with United Biscuits’ new Go Ahead! Yogurt Breaks - biscuit with fruit filling and a yogurt flavour topping.
Paul Selvey, UBUK’s head of consumer marketing for convenience, plans to develop the product next year, and he adds: “There’s a huge opportunity in healthy biscuits.”
Low fat cakes are becoming more popular, too, and Anthony Alan Foods’
Weight Watchers Cake brand has grown 107% in the year to March 2004 [TNS].
Sarah Morgan, marketing manager, says: “Consumers clearly want the choice to be able to buy great-tasting, healthy-eating cakes, but the goal is not to create healthier products as such, so much as to create excellent products that also happen to be better for you.”
Sometimes it’s important for shoppers to avoid certain foods, such as wheat and gluten, leading the multiple retailers’ to ramp up their ‘free from’ fixtures with speciality cakes and biscuits.
Trufree says 21% of consumers visiting this fixture are shopping for biscuits, and it is constantly adding new lines such as Chocolate Nobbles.
But all this interest in healthy products doesn’t mean shoppers are completely avoiding their old favourites - it just means they’ll indulge in full fat cakes and biscuits in the evening or at weekends to reward themselves for eating healthier products at other times.
“Consumers have a ‘saints and sinners’ approach - they like to indulge but at other times they’ll be more healthy,” says Fox’s Smith.
Graham Walker, Nestlé’s sales communications manager, says: “People have a debit and credit attitude to consumption. They’re happy to treat themselves at certain times of the day.”
Sarah Lewis, Co-operative Group category marketing manager, says there has been little evidence to suggest that health and diet issues have impacted significantly on overall cake consumption.
And Nigel Ashton, category controller for Nisaway, reckons there has been an increase in demand for healthier food. “This increased health awareness as a result of lifestyle changes and the need for eating on the move have led to huge demand for healthy snacking options, and the biscuits category offers huge potential.”
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