Let them eat biscuits and cakes . . .
FMCG Business finds out what’s new in these substantial categories.
New Zealanders have a love affair with biscuits – $375million* of love in supermarkets alone.
Josette Prince, Griffin’s GM Sales and Marketing says: “At the heart of this is Griffin’s, New Zealand’s number one biscuit manufacturer, who is currently celebrating 150 years of baking history. Our market leadership is based on consumer relationships.”
What fuels this love affair? First and foremost is chocolate biscuits, accounting for over 35% of all sweet biscuits value** in the NZ market with brands consumers love: Griffin’s Toffee Pops, Griffin’s Squiggles, Arnotts Tim Tam’s, Griffin’s Mallow Puffs and the recently extended range of Choco-ade flavours. Prince comments: “Our recent Choco-ade flavours launch has shown that new news is key to maintaining consumer love and we have so much more new news to drive retail sales growth in 2014.”
But the story is much more than chocolate; the plain sweet and kid’s segments represent 35% of the sweet biscuit category”. Prince adds: “As we celebrate our 150th year of baking, its brands like Gingernuts, Shrewsbury and Super Wines Kiwis have grown up with that still form the core of the category. Griffins bake nine of the top 10 selling biscuits and we plan to continue baking for a long time to come”.
Despite so much heritage in the biscuit category, changing consumer needs have seen crackers deliver strong growth of 15% in the last three years to be a $150 million category in its own right. This growth has been fuelled by innovation in segments including Rice, Multi Grain, Entertaining Crackers and Lite Bread.
Olivia Sutherland, Griffin’s Marketing Manager Biscuits adds: “With Huntley & Palmers Better for you’ ranges (Lite bread, 10 Grain and Seeds, Wholegrain), 15.7% value growth in last 6 months**, meeting consumers demands for healthier alternatives and the huge success of Snax, 53% value growth in the last six months**, through innovation and its ‘1001 ways to Snax’ campaign, it’s been a great summer for Griffin’s crackers and the category. We are really excited about our plans for the summer 2014/15 to continue this success”.
Data sources: Aztec
* Total Supermarkets MAT to 15/5/2014
** Total Supermarkets six months to 15/5/2014
Wake up and smell the cookies!
Cookie Time has just launched its own take on convenience breakfasts, with new Breakfast Cookies designed to satisfy and sustain. This innovation taps into two key category trends – the growth of cookies in the biscuits category; and the growth of convenience breakfasts.
New Breakfast Cookies in two flavours – Superfruits and Nut Seed & Honey – roll up the good things you’d typically have for breakfast – eggs, fruit, butter, nuts and seeds, cereals – and combine them in a delicious, convenient, grab and go breakfast option. They are a good source of fibre, with reduced sugar and energy to go.
Breakfast Cookies are the latest innovation in the Cookie Time Limited (CTL) portfolio, which includes more than 15 types of cookies. Cookie Time Brand Manager, Melanie Mackenzie says Breakfast Cookies are the perfect marriage of nutrition, taste and convenience. CTL consumer research conducted as part of product development showed 15% of people buying cookies were already eating them instead of breakfast.
“While nothing beats a sit-down breakfast, Breakfast Cookies provide a convenient on-the-run option – as well as a specific breakfast choice for those already eating cookies for breakfast,” she says.
Mackenzie adds: “Overall, while the biscuits category is in decline – down 2.2% according to Nielsen December 2013 MAT data – cookies as a subcategory are in growth. And breakfast biscuit offerings are also showing promising growth. In the breakfast category, convenience breakfasts are growing at more than 10 times the rate of the overall category. Nielsen scan data (February 2014) puts this convenience breakfast category growth at 9.5%, within an overall breakfast category now worth $278.8 million.”
The full length feature, including Nielsen data, is available in the July edition of FMCG Business. The FMCG Business team endeavours to produce a monthly snapshot of category news and highlights, based on information from participating clients, plus a table of the freshest Nielsen data available at time of print. If you wish to contribute news for upcoming category reports, please contact trubanowski@intermedianz.co.nz
