Brands really take the biscuit trying to keep up with each other, new flavours and the Italians
Even old favourites aren’t safe in today’s competitive cake and biscuit sector, with brand heritage challenged from all sides.
The Cadbury brand continues to step on the toes of McVitie’s in nearly all sectors. Not content with taking on the digestive biscuit with a Cadbury version a couple of years back, Burton’s Foods has now launched a Cadbury-branded milk chocolate version of Jaffa Cakes which it believes could one day overtake the original brand. Kitchen Range Foods, meanwhile, has had success with its Cadbury Mini Dipping Donuts - packs of mini donuts with pots of Cadbury milk chocolate dip designed for sharing.
Cadbury-branded products are even encroaching into celebration
cakes to take on traditional players. Karen Doran, cake buyer at Asda, reckons Cadbury’s strong brand credentials transfer perfectly to cakes. “The Cadbury brand has brought new users into the celebration cake category, driven category value and growth, and is synonymous with the levels of quality consumers are now demanding.”
In the face of increased competition from Cadbury-branded products, United Biscuits has this year been busy making additions to its McVitie’s
biscuits and cakes ranges and also plans to launch new products under its Go Ahead! brand in the new year.
In the past few months, McVitie’s has added a mint variant to its Chocolate Digestives brand, joining the Chocolate and Orange Digestives, and, according to United Biscuits, reaching sales of £1.8m after the first 20 weeks of its launch in February. It is also launching a limited edition white chocolate variant for the Christmas market. In addition, the company has extended its Boasters biscuit range with an orange chocolate variant and introduced new packaging across its Baked to Perfection, Teatime and Temptations boxed biscuit selections.
McVitie’s Homewheat has also been turning in an excellent performance, according to Gordon Vickers, Nisaway category controller. “McVitie’s, as brand leader, has the strongest credentials.”
Colleague Trevor Standing, Nisachill/Freeze trading controller, says in cakes McVitie’s and
Cadbury-licensed products have similar brand shares. McVitie’s, he says, is static in value but growing in volume and he expects Cadbury-branded products to grow in both value and volume over the coming year as more lines are launched.
Other manufacturers are busy with new variants; Masterfoods is promoting its white limited edition Twix and Nestlé Rowntree is coming up with plenty of flavours to keep everyone’s interest in Kit Kat. Says Graham Walker, sales communication manager: “Kit Kat does well because consumers favour innovation over price reduction, which is why we’ve launched the white and dark varieties, along with the Caramac and Strawberry and Cream versions.” But is it enough? Tim Kershaw, MD at consultancy Libra Europe, points to a lack of brand strength across the sector.
“McVitie’s, Burton’s Foods and Jacob’s brands all suffered as companies drove own label volumes and subsequently failed to invest enough in the products and brands that built them,” says Kershaw. “A classic example is Jacob’s Club, a major victim of this move away from brand investment.”
A good relationship with retailers obviously also helps prevent brands becoming less popular.
Mark Sugden, head of customer marketing at United Biscuits, says: “You need to work with retailers to make sure they make the right choices about which products are stocked.”
He points to Sainsbury’s recent category review which resulted in a cull of 130 of its 550 cakes and biscuits lines. “That was the right thing to do and they’re seeing sales continue to move ahead.”
Category review such as this also puts pressure on the smaller players, which find themselves having to raise their game to gain listings.
Rivermill Foods is entering the category for the first time under the Loyd Grossman brand with a range of Italian handmade biscuits that are aimed at the top end of the category.
Its Cantucci in dark chocolate and honey flavours will be joined by traditional favourites Ricciarelli and Pinolini early next year, and will create a new premium everyday category, it says.
Walkers Shortbread earlier this year developed what it calls a range of contemporary biscuits - including stem ginger and lemon, oat and heather honey and crispy butterscotch variants - to offer a more premium everyday biscuit.
New Forest Foods is also ringing the changes with its recently launched Fairtrade hand-baked biscuits brand Sherriffs, which it is selling in canisters in an effort to encourage consumers to trade up.
Even old favourites aren’t safe in today’s competitive cake and biscuit sector, with brand heritage challenged from all sides.
The Cadbury brand continues to step on the toes of McVitie’s in nearly all sectors. Not content with taking on the digestive biscuit with a Cadbury version a couple of years back, Burton’s Foods has now launched a Cadbury-branded milk chocolate version of Jaffa Cakes which it believes could one day overtake the original brand. Kitchen Range Foods, meanwhile, has had success with its Cadbury Mini Dipping Donuts - packs of mini donuts with pots of Cadbury milk chocolate dip designed for sharing.
Cadbury-branded products are even encroaching into celebration
cakes to take on traditional players. Karen Doran, cake buyer at Asda, reckons Cadbury’s strong brand credentials transfer perfectly to cakes. “The Cadbury brand has brought new users into the celebration cake category, driven category value and growth, and is synonymous with the levels of quality consumers are now demanding.”
In the face of increased competition from Cadbury-branded products, United Biscuits has this year been busy making additions to its McVitie’s
biscuits and cakes ranges and also plans to launch new products under its Go Ahead! brand in the new year.
In the past few months, McVitie’s has added a mint variant to its Chocolate Digestives brand, joining the Chocolate and Orange Digestives, and, according to United Biscuits, reaching sales of £1.8m after the first 20 weeks of its launch in February. It is also launching a limited edition white chocolate variant for the Christmas market. In addition, the company has extended its Boasters biscuit range with an orange chocolate variant and introduced new packaging across its Baked to Perfection, Teatime and Temptations boxed biscuit selections.
McVitie’s Homewheat has also been turning in an excellent performance, according to Gordon Vickers, Nisaway category controller. “McVitie’s, as brand leader, has the strongest credentials.”
Colleague Trevor Standing, Nisachill/Freeze trading controller, says in cakes McVitie’s and
Cadbury-licensed products have similar brand shares. McVitie’s, he says, is static in value but growing in volume and he expects Cadbury-branded products to grow in both value and volume over the coming year as more lines are launched.
Other manufacturers are busy with new variants; Masterfoods is promoting its white limited edition Twix and Nestlé Rowntree is coming up with plenty of flavours to keep everyone’s interest in Kit Kat. Says Graham Walker, sales communication manager: “Kit Kat does well because consumers favour innovation over price reduction, which is why we’ve launched the white and dark varieties, along with the Caramac and Strawberry and Cream versions.” But is it enough? Tim Kershaw, MD at consultancy Libra Europe, points to a lack of brand strength across the sector.
“McVitie’s, Burton’s Foods and Jacob’s brands all suffered as companies drove own label volumes and subsequently failed to invest enough in the products and brands that built them,” says Kershaw. “A classic example is Jacob’s Club, a major victim of this move away from brand investment.”
A good relationship with retailers obviously also helps prevent brands becoming less popular.
Mark Sugden, head of customer marketing at United Biscuits, says: “You need to work with retailers to make sure they make the right choices about which products are stocked.”
He points to Sainsbury’s recent category review which resulted in a cull of 130 of its 550 cakes and biscuits lines. “That was the right thing to do and they’re seeing sales continue to move ahead.”
Category review such as this also puts pressure on the smaller players, which find themselves having to raise their game to gain listings.
Rivermill Foods is entering the category for the first time under the Loyd Grossman brand with a range of Italian handmade biscuits that are aimed at the top end of the category.
Its Cantucci in dark chocolate and honey flavours will be joined by traditional favourites Ricciarelli and Pinolini early next year, and will create a new premium everyday category, it says.
Walkers Shortbread earlier this year developed what it calls a range of contemporary biscuits - including stem ginger and lemon, oat and heather honey and crispy butterscotch variants - to offer a more premium everyday biscuit.
New Forest Foods is also ringing the changes with its recently launched Fairtrade hand-baked biscuits brand Sherriffs, which it is selling in canisters in an effort to encourage consumers to trade up.
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