Analysis by Sarah Hardcastle Rice ought to be one of the top categories in grocery retail given the popularity of ethnic food. You'd think that sales would be romping away, clocking up double digit increases. Sales are certainly up, but only by a disappointing amount ­ a mere 2.9%, valuing the total market at £112m [AC Nielsen, March 2000]. Volume has done little better, increasing 1.8%. The reason for this less than sparkling performance is own label's exceptionally large share of around 80%. Own label generally doesn't get the support in the way brands do, hence the rice market doesn't get as much promotional activity as other categories to drive growth. This leaves brands to shoulder the brunt of marketing activity, but as there are so few in the mainstream area, they don't have a big enough voice to make a significant impact. At the same time, these figures do not reflect the market's true size and performance, because data on the ethnic rice sector isn't collected and analysed. Industry experts estimate the ethnic sector is huge. For example, the UK's 1.7 million Bengali community alone eats three rice meals a day, with families regularly purchasing 45kg packs. The average consumer gets through 4.5kg of rice a year, whereas a typical ethnic consumer can eat up to 150kg annually. The ethnic sector deserves greater recognition for its influence.Marketing director David Reay of Westmill Foods, which supplies ethnic brands as well as own label, says mainstream consumers are switching from traditional to ethnic brands. "In Sainsbury, Guru, our Indian brand, already outsells one of the leading mainstream brands." The demand for authenticity can be seen in the dramatic rise of basmati. In the last 10 years it has become the fastest growing area of the rice market. Sales last year rose 10%, giving it 22% volume and 30% value share [AC Nielsen]. Despite this performance, only 19% of households eat basmati so it has enormous potential. Specialities are gaining ground, particularly Thai fragrant, up 16% in value. Wild rice, French Camargue red and Italian arborio for risotto are still niche, but steadily building sales. Tilda brand manager Tracy Roberts says this is because consumers are more willing than ever before to experiment. "The trend is definitely moving towards eating the right rice with the right meal, particularly when entertaining. For this reason, it is important for retailers to continue to stock smaller pack sizes of basmati, Thai and other specialities to encourage trial." Casualties are pudding rice, losing sales because of the decline in home-made desserts, and brown rice which many consumers find hard to cook. Many consumers still cling to the misconception that rice is difficult to prepare, hence the success of Uncle Ben's easy cook and boil in the bag ranges which have turned the Pedigree Masterfoods brand into market leader. With the long grain sector showing clear signs of slowing, Uncle Ben's has moved towards greater convenience in the last year, launching Express, a microwaveable precooked range in a pouch in three variants prepared in two minutes. It is targeted at the growing number of consumers looking for quick meal solutions. Its 125g portion pack of risotto rice which came out last year has the same objective. Veetee national account manager Louise Bromley sees convenience as one of the routes to re-energising the market. "It needs innovation as well as authenticity to drive it forward. And convenience rice is the next sector to make this happen," she predicts. "Convenience rice will transcend all the main varieties and should have a positive influence on the sector as opposed to cannibalising sales from one product area to another." The convenience angle is being explored by a number of manufacturers, among them Sharwood's which is bringing out an ambient pre-cooked rice in a microwaveable pouch which is ready in two minutes. The product, Simply Rice, is in Asda, and will be rolled out to other retailers shortly. Sco-Fro has also developed a range of pre-cooked microwaveable rice products with a cooking time of two minutes. That these products meet a consumer need is evident from the strong sales achieved by pre-cooked frozen rice. Ardovries Shearway reports 30% yearly rise in sales for its frozen portion-packed microwaveable rice while its own label rice based stir fries are up 15%. MD Tony Goodson says frozen rice cuts down preparation time and speeds up the final cooking. "There's no clumping, so the rice gives reliable, consistent results and can be added to stir fries straight from the pack which is why it's becoming increasingly popular. Market feedback indicates usage is across the board at mealtimes, and not mainly confined to ethnic food." American long grain is the dominant variety in frozen and is growing, adds Goodson. Fisher Foods says frozen rice is fast becoming a major player in frozen convenience vegetables, with white rice alone accounting for 60% of sales in the speciality sector. The company is now developing more exotic products, such as egg fried and pilau rice variants, as well as rice snacks. In ambient, savoury rice is the original convenience product, with Batchelors the leading and only major brand. Category manager Julian Cooke says sector sales are promising, up 4% over last year. Riso Gallo has tried to make the complexities of Italian risotto a lot easier with a range of flavoured risotto rice which can be ready in 12 minutes with the addition of water. It plans to add more flavours to the existing five, and says sales growth has been "tremendous" following a recent advertising campaign. Dual merchandising with cook-in sauces is a route both Tilda and Veetee have been exploring to boost rice consumption. Both have done linked promotions between basmati and Indian sauces to encourage trial. Veetee's Bromley says the juxtaposition of these complementary products helps fuel the demand for each other. "This has been piloted in several retailers, but whether it could be rolled out nationally is yet to be proven as certain consumer groups still prefer to shop rice as a staple cupboard item, replacing when required, as opposed to having to track its whereabouts down a fixture," she adds. Veetee is also giving its brand and own label products greater shelf presence with bolder packaging and clearer cooking instructions. Asda, along with Tesco and Sainsbury, has adopted a new strategy that is starting to change the dynamics of the rice market. In the last few years, the multiples have begun courting the ethnic community by remerchandising their fixtures in selected stores to include larger pack sizes and more ethnic brands. Westmill's marketing manager Rakesh Oberoi says: "The multiples have realised they're missing a big sales opportunity by not offering the ethnic community the food they want. They are seriously trying to attract their custom, and in the rice fixture are stocking packs of 10kg and upwards in stores with an ethnic catchment." Oberoi says this initiative has not only succeeded in attracting the ethnic community, it's also encouraging sales of ethnic brands to mainstream consumers. "They're coming in, seeing the brands and buying them because they're authentic," says Oberoi. "Tesco started off selling our Watan brand in 10kg packs in ethnic stores to attract local customers. As sales have done so well they've expanded it to all their stores." The interest in ethnic brands is leading to an increase in pack size in mainstream stores generally, with 5kg becoming popular. Veetee has launched a 5kg jar of basmati and American long grain easy cook to boost sales volumes. "The jars were originally intended for catering," says Veetee's Bromley, "but the multiples showed interest and now they're in Asda, Waitrose, Somerfield and Safeway. The 5kg jar has proved to be perfect introduction for the mainstream to the value offered through bulk purchase." {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}