Sales: £95.8m +23.1%
After launching in the UK in 2008, Monster quickly established itself as a force to be reckoned with in energy drinks. It has now made it into the top 100 after an action-packed year in which it added green tea and orangeade flavours to its Rehab range of low-calorie still drinks.
92 (93) Pizza Express
Sales: £95.5m +0.1%
Pizza Express has two big strengths - it’s often the only branded pizza in the chiller cabinets and it’s regularly on offer. Another plus is that it is not just about pizza: last year it launched a caramelised red onion, sage and rosemary focaccia and increased distribution of its filled pasta.
Sales: £94.8m -3.9%
Butters and spreads had a rough 2013, so it’s no surprise Clover delivered less than brilliant figures. But the Dairy Crest brand has held up better than many of its rivals - and indeed Dairy Crest stablemates. It’ll be hoping a £7m revamp last November can restore it to growth.
Sales: £90.7m +10.5%
Despite the ongoing difficulties faced by ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, we’re still going nuts over Crunchy Nut.
Brits munched through 40.8 million packs of the cereal in 2013, 13% more than in 2012. This is partly down to having more variants to choose from, says Kellogg’s corporate affairs director Paul Wheeler.
“Innovation has driven the great performance of the brand,” he says, pointing to the December 2012 launch of Crunchy Nut Glorious Oat Granola and the June unveiling of Chocolate Curls as particular highlights.
“The granola has tapped into a trend and also made granola more accessible and appealing to a wider audience.”
The Crunchy Nut brand has just added a Caramelised Nuts variant to the granola line-up and also “continues to be supported by strong marketing, which communicates the taste brilliantly and really connects to the target market,” adds Wheeler.
Perhaps most impressive is that all this has been achieved without impacting the core offering. “Base sales are growing 8% year on year,” he says. “This illustrates the healthy growth the brand is experiencing.”
Sales: £90.3m +2.5%
Snickers may be shrinking (a standard bar went from 58g to 48g last year), but sales are bearing up. The More Nuts and Caramel limited editions (and those ads starring Joan Collins) have helped countlines, while the launch of mini Snickers ice creams last March has paid off in the freezers.
Sales: £89.8m -1.5 %
Hula Hoops spin-off Big Hoops got bigger last year, replacing standard Hula Hoops in 50g grab bags to “better meet the needs of consumers seeking a snack on the go.” They also got new 100g £1 price-marked packs in the impulse channel. Unfortunately, Big Hoops was all that got bigger: sales fell.
Sales: £89.7m +9.9%
It’s been a strong year for the Mexican brand, with value up nearly 10% on volumes up 8%. Boosted by a new TV ad featuring Mexican action movie star Danny Trejo, the brand launched the One Pan Rice Meal range in March and claims it has achieved sales of £2m to date.
Sales: £89.5m -1.3%
With the anti-sugar brigade ever more vocal, Coca Cola Enterprises has replaced its Capri-Sun 100% juice lines with Fruit Crush - a lower-sugar water and juice blend. It’s also wooed younger consumers with a promo with headphone brand WESC and a Despicable Me 2 movie tie-up.
Sales: £89.3m +4.8%
The brand has had a good year, despite keeping a low profile. Its last significant change was a makeover in 2012 to help shoppers differentiate between the original and sugar-free Zero products. It clearly paid off - and the hot summer weather also gave the brand a boost.
Sales: £89.1m +12.3%
Alpro’s arrival in this year’s ranking is a coming of age for the 25-year-old dairy-free brand. It claims to have escaped the free-from niche, having recruited record numbers of mainstream consumers in the past year. A key future focus will be premium extensions and chilled desserts.
See the complete list of Britain’s 100 Biggest Grocery Brands
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