Scottish brands 2016
Innovation key to home wins SG exclusive – The most valuable Scottish brands in the Scottish food and drink market I cannot quite believe how quickly 2016 has disappeared. It’s been a busy year with many standout moments. The biggest came with Brexit; although we can’t yet realise the impact it will have on our industry, the pound has lost 15% of its value since June. The market and manufacturers are now beginning to feel the effects of this alongside ingredient and on-shelf price increases. There has also been much discussion about the effect of Brexit upon the supply of labour, as well as exports. However we mustn’t overlook the importance of the UK market to Scottish manufacturers, where sales of Scottish brands are now worth £2 billion – with many of our well-known brands, such as Borders Biscuits, Deans and Stoats, growing their presence. Until recently, consumer confidence had remained positive in Scotland – that this is now dipping may be a sign of things to come. Dealing with uncertainty in any market is challenging, but having appropriate strategies in place will be key to driving longer-term business stability for food and drink producers and retailers. And consideration should always be given to having a range strategy across price tiers in a product portfolio, as well as a multi-channel strategy. The retail landscape in Scotland continues to evolve and, whilst the growth of the dis34 l
Amanda’s overview AMANDA Brown, strategic insight director for Scotland for market research company Kantar Worldpanel – which provides the listing of the top 50 Scottish nonalcohol brands in Scotland and the Top 25 Scottish alcohol brands in Scotland – analyses the year for the leading Scottish brands in Scottish food and drink retailing.
counters is slowing, they are still growing well ahead of the market. We have also seen promotional levels drop to their lowest level since September 2010 as the major multiples adjust their strategies to attract shoppers back into stores. The grocery market in Scotland has now returned to growth and is worth just over £10bn, albeit the price of an average basket is still lower than last year. The convenience and inde-
number of transactions are undertaken on mobile devices by an increasing number of shoppers. It is also worth noting the strong performances of Iceland as well as M&S, Waitrose and The Co-op during 2016. From a health perspective, the introduction of a sugar tax has been significant, with many focusing on the impact it will have on the soft drinks industry, as has the SACN recommendation that free sugars should contribute no
Our insight does suggest that Scottish shopping baskets are getting healthier pendent sector continues to increase in importance, and whilst online continues to move forwards, it is still underperforming when compared with the rest of the UK. Yet it remains a category worth paying attention to, as a growing
more than 5% of the average shopping basket. Our insight does suggest that Scottish shopping baskets are getting healthier – but that this is driven not only by consumer choice, but also by reformulation and changing pack sizes.
This Top 50 is testament to the dynamic food and drink sector we have in Scotland. It is always great to see how well Scottish brands continue to do, and this year much success has been driven by innovation, as well as the development of new market and category opportunities. There are also many positive stories about investment, such as plans to develop new and expanded facilities, demonstrating the optimism within the industry, despite increasing competitiveness. Within the top 50, we see two new entries this year – the first from Mrs Unis at number 41 and Grants at number 45. Both have seen strong performance in the multiples with new products helping to drive success. We also see strong moves up the rankings from Genius (a new entry last year), We Hae Meat (moving up 12 places), Deans and Mrs Tilly’s – all of which have developed their ranges this year with new product and packaging at the forefront of their strategies. Looking forward to next year, we will continue to see strong performances from Scottish brands in Scotland driven by growing distribution and innovation – and this will result in further movement in the Top 50. Scottish shoppers have a strong affinity with Scottish brands, and with provenance higher on everyone’s agendas, there are still great opportunities to drive growth across all channels in the local market.
l December 2016
make up fD p34 and 35 Scottish brands non alc section a C.indd 1
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