Despite rising costs, shoppers remain steadfast in their love for biscuits and cakes. And this is continuing to grow as more and more consumers seeking a treat turn away from dearer categories in favour of biscuits and cakes which offer more affordable, everyday indulgences.
As such, the biscuit business is thriving – having surpassed the £3bn mark last year, becoming a crucial segment to get right across all channels, valued at £273M in convenience alone (Kantar).
“McVitie’s, as the number one biscuit brand in the UK, should be a priority for every wholesaler. Our biscuits are a household staple in over three-quarters of UK households (77%, Kantar), and our range of top-selling products, coupled with a pipeline of insights-led innovation, sets us apart,” comments Asl? Özen Turhan, Chief Marketing Officer at pladis UK&I.
Cakes are experiencing similar success, and pladis’ Everyday Cake Bars portfolio is dominating the segment with more than a third of market share (39.5%, Nielsen).
This comes down to the widespread appeal of trusted, tried-and-tested brands. Products like McVitie’s Jaffa Cake Bars and McVitie’s Digestives Caramel Millionaire Slices, for example, are witnessing strong growth in the channel (+5.6% and 48.3%, respectively, Nielsen).
“For wholesalers, hitting those sales targets involves achieving the perfect balance of stocking those timeless favourites that consistently fly off the shelves and making space for enticing new releases that encourage impulse purchases. With a legacy of over 180 years in the biscuit industry, our household-name brands, coupled with robust marketing support and our award-winning array of innovation, is why we’re consistently hitting the mark,” adds Turhan.
“We’re proud that McVitie’s products made up five of the top 10 bestsellers in convenience in 2023, featuring classics like McVitie’s Milk Chocolate Digestives, McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes, McVitie’s Milk Chocolate Hobnobs, McVitie’s Original Digestives, and McVitie’s Rich Tea. With £1 out of every £4 spent on a Top 10 brand, wholesalers who aren’t keeping up with the hottest products might be passing up on a major sales opportunity.”
Beyond the core bestsellers, we’re also seeing huge success within the Everyday Treats and Special Treats categories, both experiencing remarkable growth (up 25.1% and +17.7%, respectively, Kantar).
McVitie’s Blissfuls is a key favourite with sales exceeding £7.8M, showing a significant increase in sales in the last year alone (+15.1%, Nielsen). Similarly, McVitie’s White Chocolate Digestives achieved £2.2M in sales after just 10 weeks on store shelves (Nielsen). With demand steadily rising, these segments, along with their top performers, are expected to propel the entire category forward.
“When it comes to the snacking categories, taste is king,” says Turhan. “We’re seeing an increasing amount of people embracing bold, adventurous flavours. Our McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes brand has played a significant role in this, contributing an extra £10.5M in sales in the past three years with flavours like Pineapple, Cherry, Passion Fruit, and Lemon & Lime (Nielsen). Expanding on this success, we recently introduced Jaffa Cakes Rockin’ Raspberry – a fresh twist on the classic with a tangy raspberry centre.”
Last summer, pladis fulfilled many shoppers’ longstanding wish with the launch of its highly anticipated McVitie’s White Chocolate Digestives – a smooth, creamy take on Britain’s favourite biscuit that has generated over £5.3M in sales in just a few months on shelf (Nielsen IQ).
Premium treats are another major trend propelling solid category growth (+4.6%, Nielsen IQ). Shoppers are willingly spending more on premium biscuit gifts, boosting the category’s gifting segment to an impressive £42M in sales, marking a 25% year-on-year growth (Nielsen IQ). To meet this demand, pladis expanded its McVitie’s Seasonal gifting range beyond Christmas, with the launch of two new gifting assortments.
First up is the McVitie’s Victoria Chocolate Orange Dreams, a twist on a favourite from the McVitie’s Victoria assortment. And for those craving a touch of luxury, pladis’ most premium assortment is now available in a mini version – the McVitie’s Victoria Chocolate Creations Gifting Pack. Packed with velvety milk, dark, and white chocolate biscuits with the perfect crunch, complete with various gifting messages, this assortment satisfies the demand for both unique flavours and thoughtful, indulgent gifts.
Finally, turning to the cake aisles, pladis has stirred up excitement this year with its latest creation under popular favourite McVitie’s BN – BN Popping Candy Cake Bars. In two classic flavours – Chocolate and Strawberry – McVitie’s BN Popping Candy Cake Bars are helping wholesalers to boost impulse purchases.
Colin Taylor, Trade Marketing Director at Fox’s Burton’s Companies UK, comments: “Biscuits and cakes remain one of the few categories where shoppers are willing to spend money on treats, especially during tougher economic times. Shoppers often turn to the brands they know and love, especially when money is tighter. Brands such as Fox’s are therefore at the forefront of consumers’ minds as trusted, well-known brands, offering high-quality treats.”
Shoppers in the UK have shown they see the value in biscuits, as we have seen in the growing ‘Premium Treat’ segment which is worth £297 million a year and growing +16% YoY (NIQ and Kantar). Shoppers are looking for an affordable luxury and biscuits provide an accessible treat. This presents wholesalers with a big opportunity to capitalise on the category’s success with FBC UK, the 2nd biggest branded biscuit baker in Britain (NIQ and Kantar). To offer even more choice for shoppers, FBC UK expanded its Fox’s Fabulous Chocolatey range with the launch of Fox’s Fabulous Chocolatey Indulgent Creams in September 2023.
FBC UK has been continuing to offer the best value it can for shoppers by delivering high quality experiences from its branded portfolio: from the nostalgia of a Jammie Dodger to the new experiences offered by Fox’s Fabulous Chocolatey Indulgent Centre Cookies and Fox’s Fabulous Chocolatey Indulgent Creams.
“We believe this focus has allowed us to see the highest value and volume growth out of any of the largest ‘Branded Sweet Biscuit’ manufacturers (NIQ and Kantar), with a growth of +17.0% RSV YoY (NIQ and Kantar). Our customers have stayed loyal, showing that consumers continue to purchase well-loved, branded biscuits. Just take one of our most loved biscuits, Maryland Cookies as proof, which has a 48% repeat rate with shoppers (Kantar),” adds Taylor.
“For retailers, having a broad range of products available to meet different consumer needs at different price points is arguably more crucial than ever before. At FBC UK, we have worked hard to help retailers sell our products at affordable prices and will continue to offer a variety of products in a range of formats and price points to ensure our shoppers can find the right product for them.”
Data has shown us that shoppers have reduced the number of packs they buy per trip (-2% to 2.2 packs on average, Kantar) and are also opting for smaller packs year on year (-2% to 223g per pack on average, NIQ). We have also seen the strongest growth in biscuits in more affordable sectors like ‘Everyday Treats’ (£5.57 per Kg vs an average of £5.80, NIQ).
FBC UK have a very strong range of smaller packs at affordable price points, particularly in the ‘Everyday Treat’ segment of ‘Sweet Biscuits’. Favourites Crunch Creams are a £14.3m brand, growing 22% year on year, Paterson’s is Britain’s Favourite shortbread brand worth £12.4m and growing 17%, Fox’s Favourites Viennese at £11.2m, growing at 13% and Fox’s Favourites Jam N Cream at £2.7m, growing at 29.8% (NIQ). FBC is working hard with retailers to ensure these favourites have visibility in store, attracting existing and new shoppers to the category.
FBC UK is also trying to help develop ‘Sweet Biscuits’ sales across different channels. One example of this is its work with the rapidly growing mini biscuits segment by launching Maryland Choc Chip Minis and Party Ring Minis which have been a focus for larger stores. The new addition to Britain’s number one cookie brand (NIQ), comes as shoppers look for convenient, on-the-go formats, but also reassurance on taste and quality from well-known brands. In larger stores FBC UK is seeking to help shoppers access these portable biscuits in larger pack sizes, with the launch of 10 packs of Maryland Minis and Party Ring Minis in recent weeks.
FBC UK’s sales growth of 4.7% over the last year has been driven by the strong core line performance including Maryland Cookies, which grew by +13.8% year on year (supported by new flavours and Minis), Jammie Dodgers up 13.3% (supported by minis and Choccie Dodgers) and Fox’s Fabulous Cookies (with the help of fabulous promotions and a new Millionaire’s cookie, NIQ and Kantar).
FBC UK recognises that shoppers like to occasionally treat themselves and that NPD helps retailers drive relevance and excitement in store. Its latest work to keep things fresh on the ‘Sweet Biscuit’ shelves includes restaging its biggest brand – Maryland – which saw £63.8m in retail sales last year, growing at 17% (NIQ and Kantar). The restage with Maryland Chocolate & Caramel has driven an additional 3% of sales into the brand (NIQ).
FBC UK launched Fox’s Fabulous Cookies Indulgent Centres in 2023, and recently added Fox’s Fabulous Chocolatey Indulgent Centres into its Special Treats range. These biscuits are ideal as small gifts, for sharing with friends and for the Big Night In occasion.
Party Rings Choc Minis contain five bags of crunchy cocoa biscuits with a fun choc twist on Party Rings’ iconic icing. The chocolatey, miniature sized, crunchy, iced ring biscuits are the perfect sweet treat that can be enjoyed by all members of the family and are especially convenient when on-the-go. They’re also ideal for packed lunches. With no compromise on taste, Fox’s Party Rings Choc Minis contain only 92 calories per bag and are free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.
Naomi Shooman, Global Marketing Director for sweet treats at Premier Foods, comments: “With healthier cake options proving popular, Mr Kipling expanded the Deliciously Good range in May 2023 with the launch of loaf cakes in Lemon and Caramel Apple flavours. As a sub-category, loaf cakes are more likely to be chosen for health reasons vs total packaged cakes (Kantar). The new range of healthier loaf cakes contain 30% less sugar, real fruit, and are 115 calories per portion, meaning they are well positioned to attract new and current shoppers while supporting category growth.”
Plant-based cake is growing, with an average annual growth rate of 24% in value terms over the last three years (Circana). In 2023, Plantastic pivoted the strategy to refocus on delivering ultimate indulgence with Plantastic Millionaire Flapjacks and Plantastic Double Chocolate Brownies to provide consumers with even more choice of great tasting, indulgent, plant-based cake. The Plantastic cake portfolio delivers on an unmet category need for seriously tasty plant-based innovation.
The Plantastic Indulgent Double Chocolate Brownies contain 100% plant-based ingredients and are the ultimate indulgent treat. Crafted with cocoa, studded with dark chocolate chips, and topped with velvety choc, this latest sweet treat from Plantastic is available in single snack packs and multipack formats, catering for both evening snacking and on-the-go eating.
Mr Kipling expanded its core range in September 2023, with the launch of a Battenberg-style Strawberries & Cream Chequered cake which is set to appeal to shoppers by taking a popular flavour combination and launching it in a loaf cake format. With moist cream flavour sponge squares, along with smooth fruity strawberry jam encased in a strawberry flavour paste, this new addition excludes marzipan – which, from consumer insight, can be a barrier to purchase – therefore without it, more consumers are likely to purchase the new recipe, driving incremental sales for retailers.
With healthier cake performing well and now worth £96m (Circana) per year, Mr Kipling has expanded its ground-breaking Deliciously Good range as consumer demand for tasty, better-for-you cakes continues to grow. One of Mr Kipling’s best-loved recipes is Cherry Bakewells, and the brand has now created a healthier version, with 30% less sugar that doesn’t compromise on taste.
In 2023, Cadbury introduced two flavours to its permanent Mini Rolls line-up – Chocolate Orange and Chocolate Mint. They joined the existing Milk Chocolate and Chocolate Raspberry versions of this iconic product, with an aim to drive further demand for Mini Rolls with flavours not currently seen in the category.
Cake Bars are growing in both value and volume with Maltesers Cake Bars the second-best selling with a retail sales value of £3.9 million per year.
To capitalise on this success, Mars Chocolate Drinks & Treats has just launched a new variant, Raspberry Maltesers Cake Bars.
With five individually wrapped bars in each pack, Raspberry Maltesers Cake Bars combine a light raspberry flavoured sponge, topped with a malt flavour cream containing crunchy Maltesers pieces for that extra crunch, all covered in chocolate.
Michelle Frost, General Manager at Mars Chocolate Drinks and Treats, continues: “We believe that the strength of the Maltesers brand is attracting new shoppers to the cake bar aisle.
“We are confident that our new Raspberry Maltesers Cake Bars will continue to add incremental growth to the category.”
The MCD&T range includes Maltesers, Milky Way, Galaxy and Galaxy Carmel cake bars.
Stéphanie Brillouet, Marketing Director, Délifrance, comments: “Despite the health movement, indulgence continues to be a prominent trend across the sweet baked goods market, both in and out of home. Lunchtime is the most popular time to indulge, followed by mid-morning and mid-afternoon occasions (Kantar). Snacking and on-the-go food habits, therefore, continue to drive growth across the UK.”
“For wholesalers looking to tap into the indulgence trend, ensuring a more premium offering will be key as that’s what is driving consumption across the category (DataM Intelligence). Taste remains the key driver, therefore wholesalers should consider stocking products packed with flavour and layering of ingredients and textures.”
According to Délifrance’s research, the most popular types of Pâtisserie eaten in the UK are cakes (64%) and muffins (52%). The flavours rising in popularity include chocolate, vanilla, coffee, caramel, peanut butter and toffee, to name just a few.
As well as taste, a fun and colourful appearance helps draw in shoppers, so a visually stunning appearance will also have strong consumer appeal. Freshly baked propositions across in-store bakery’s (ISBs) – where 60% of sweet baked goods are bought (Mintel) – will appeal to the senses even more. Offering a thaw and serve technology, therefore, is a convenient choice for busy outlets with possible labour and skills shortages. Nostalgia has become a huge trend post-pandemic, with consumers seeking comfort in traditional products and flavours. Muffins and cookies offer twists on British classics such as cupcakes and biscuits, making them ideal for consumers seeking a nostalgic treat.
“We are committed to delivering innovative products that not only resonate with our customers, but also help drive footfall. Our partnership with global brand Biscoff® to deliver soft, generously filled vanilla muffins is the perfect example of this. It comes without any toppings so it is versatile and can be personalised to suit the preferences of consumers. Its branded Lotus Biscoff® tulip casing offers higher visibility in store, a great selling point for operators looking to draw in customers,” adds Brillouet.
“Teaming up with like-minded businesses to deliver innovative products will continue to drive innovation across sweet bakery in 2024.”
Jen Johnson, Head of Marketing – Cake, Dr. Oetker Baking, comments: “In terms of homebaking, brands are really driving the growth in this sector, but this comes off the back of challenges of Own Label availability in the market. At Dr. Oetker we are seeing good performance from new and exciting products which offer something different for the customer.”
Whilst core ingredient basics remain static and a constant throughout the year, the growth in the category comes from new and exciting areas such as seasonal NPD. Key seasonal events like Halloween, Christmas and Easter all contribute towards driving this. Customers are often looking to trade up at these events and try new products which tie into these themes. Customers like to challenge themselves to create unique bakes at home, using trend led ideas they see on social media and in premium food outlets, thus the need for more seasonal options alongside the core range to create these more extravagant seasonal bakes.
“In order to help drive sales, availability will always remain the key priority on fixture, and the core basics should always be readily available in all stores,” adds Johnson. “The ability to catch the customers’ eye, in existing space is also always important, this could be with POS, set product sections, end of aisle products, market leading deals or just a strong cohesive range, the opportunities are endless. Social media is also incredibly important in this day and age, with various generations getting baking inspiration from the likes of Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok, therefore recipe inspiration can also be a great way to push sales.”
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