Breakfast habits have evolved over the past few years, leading to changing trends within the category.
During the pandemic, for example, we saw a shift in the breakfast occasion as shopper dynamics changed.
On-the-go breakfast purchases dropped as shoppers stocked up on bigger packs they could enjoy at home.
As restrictions have eased, however, we’ve seen the impulse occasion recovering to and categories like healthier biscuits and cereal bars are back in growth.
In fact, research shows that consumers are now returning to previous routines of frequent morning commutes, with those using public transport once a week or more increasing steadily throughout 2021.
“This means that on-the-go breakfasts and morning snacks are in demand once again, and leading brands in convenient grab-and-go formats such as belVita and Cadbury Brunch Bar are ideally placed to cater for this,” comments Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager at Mondelez International.
A recent survey also revealed that 7 in 10 adults want to make healthier choices following the pandemic (gov.uk).
Morning snacks are a great way to not only keep hunger at bay, but also a quick and easy way to get additional nourishment. belVita biscuits are crafted to help keep consumers going with the brand’s trademark recipe that includes five wholegrains which are baked gently to preserve the nutritional qualities of fibre and magnesium.
“Health and wellness have never been as important as they are now,” adds Nash. “After more than two years of facing the challenges brought on by the pandemic, many consumers are placing an even higher focus on their wellbeing – whether than be physical, mental, or both – than ever before.”
In fact, 25% (IGD) of shoppers are more influenced by health when shopping than pre-pandemic.
During lockdown, consumption focused on in-home, and shoppers were looking for offers they could depend on and trust. More recently however, we’ve seen the on-the-go occasion begin to recover, driving greater sales in snacks like healthier biscuits, cereal bars, and on-the-go biscuits. Healthier options remain important for consumers who are looking for healthier ingredients such as oats and other wholegrains – but won’t compromise on taste.
The healthier biscuit category is growing by +4.5% following the pandemic (Nielsen), with more consumers showing a renewed interest in their wellbeing. belVita is a key driver of this category growth – currently growing at +10% and leading the way in terms of both frequency +4% MAT and penetration +11% MAT (Kantar).
belVita is the UK’s number one healthier biscuit brand as defined by Nielsen, and the only biscuit range with proven slow-release carbohydrates. The biscuits offer shoppers these functional benefits and ingredients with the great taste and range of flavours that consumers are looking for.
Cadbury Brunch Bars combine honey-drizzled oat and bran flakes with Cadbury Chocolate. The range is available in Raisin, Peanut and best-selling Chocolate Chip flavours.
belVita is growing its healthier offering with three brand-new non-HFSS additions: belVita Fruit Crunch, in Raisin & Currant and Apple & Pear flavours, and belVita Soft Bakes Filled Apricot.
Combining fruit and fibre ingredients with a crunchy texture, belVita Fruit Crunch Bars contain under 100cal per biscuit. The two new flavours will offer shoppers a lighter option for afternoon snacking and as fuel for those in-between mealtime moments.
Meanwhile, belVita Soft Bakes Filled Apricot will bring this fruit flavour to the popular belVita Soft Bakes range for the first time, helping to grow incremental sales for retailers through an additional flavour option. The soft baked snack will be filled with apricot jam for a fruity burst at breakfast and beyond alongside the rest of the Soft Bakes range.
Toby Baker, Regional Marketing Director UKI – Nestlé Cereals, comments: “According to research conducted by Nestlé Cereals, the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an increasing trend towards consumers prioritising nutrition, with more than a third (34%) of people admitting they had become more health conscious post-Covid when it comes to their food shop. This research is consistent with what we are seeing in the breakfast category, where the growing focus on health and wellbeing has seen nutrition climb to match pre-pandemic (2019) levels in the list of consumer reasons for breakfast consumption (Kantar).”
Nestlé Cereals’ product portfolio plays well to this trend – the company has been improving the nutritional value of its cereals for over 18 years and today, more than 80% of its product portfolio is now classed as non-HFSS.
To reach this milestone, the company has used a little and often ‘salami-slice’ style approach to reducing salt and sugar. This innovative approach has resulted in the removal of 59 million teaspoons of sugar from family favourite brands including Coco Shreddies, Frosted Shreddies and Nesquik.
In addition, given the fact that consumers are prioritising nutrition, Nestlé Cereals’ reformulation efforts have also focused on increasing the amount of whole grain in its products. Specifically, the company added 106 million more 16g servings of whole grain to its cereals in 2020 vs 2010. Now, all of its family-favourite brands that feature the signature Nestlé green banner on pack contain whole grain as the number one ingredient. With this on pack label, retailers can be assured they are stocking their shelves with products that meet consumer demands for a balanced and delicious breakfast option.
“Trust is hugely important to consumers, which is why our family-favourite products with a long-standing UK legacy – Shreddies, Cheerios and Shredded Wheat – continue to perform well,” adds Baker. “We also know that ready-to-eat cereals are performing strongly within the breakfast category due in part to the continued post-pandemic trend towards convenience and value for money.”
With nutrition becoming a growing priority for consumers, Nestlé Cereals has also seen its low-sugar variant Cheerios Vanilla O’s perform well in the category with increasing sales since launch. Containing less than 5% sugar, the vanilla flavoured O’s are high in fibre, contain no artificial colours and flavours, and are fortified with vitamins and minerals – making them a low sugar breakfast option that doesn’t compromise on taste. Earlier this year, Nestlé Cereals added another non-HFSS product to its growing portfolio with the launch of Shreddies The Honey One, a new breakfast cereal made with real honey.
The launch followed consumer insight showing that in recent years honey-flavoured cereals have seen an increase in value sales of 14.5% since 2019 (IRI), making honey-flavoured cereals the second most popular flavour segment in the ready-to-eat cereal category (Kantar). However, the product isn’t only a hit because of its taste, it also caters to health-conscious consumers since it is high in fibre, has whole grain as the number one ingredient (84.7% whole grain), is fortified with vitamins and iron and contains no artificial colours or flavours.
“At Nestlé Cereals we are extremely proud of the sugar and salt reductions we’ve achieved as part of our long-term commitment to improve the nutritional value of our cereals,” says Baker. “Today, we have 18 cereals which contain ‘no reds’ on the front of pack nutritional traffic light label – including our family favourite brands such as Shreddies, Cheerios and Shredded Wheat.
“To celebrate this achievement, we’ve launched our ‘no reds’ campaign – an advertising campaign featuring an imagined ‘World’s Widest Variety Pack’ to raise awareness of the fact that an impressive 18 products in our portfolio contain no red traffic lights. It is not available for consumers to purchase. But of course, each of the individual packs within the variety pack are readily available on shelf!”
Darryl Burgess, Head of Sales for Weetabix, comments: “The cereal category is worth more than £70m (Nielsen) in the total impulse category. Big cereal brands still dominate in the category, drawing shoppers to the aisle, and Weetabix remains the UK’s number one breakfast cereal brand (Nielsen).”
Lockdown certainly saw a once in a generation boom for breakfast cereal sales, with many people eating breakfast at home and using cereal as a snack throughout the day. Sales did fall post lockdown with many of us able to escape the house.
Cereal is still the number one breakfast product (Dipsticks) – it offers great value for money, which will be important to shoppers in the months ahead.
“We’ve worked closely with our wholesale and convenience partners to ensure product availability over the past year, as well as offering advice to retailers so that they stock the top-selling cereal brands to cater for the rise in at-home breakfasts,” adds Burgess.
“We found that some still enjoyed a bowl of cereal at home or at work, but for others they returned to previous behaviours such as picking up a snack bar on the way or buying breakfast with their morning coffee. Therefore, it’s been a promising time for breakfast drinks and bars which are again showing signs of long-term growth”.
Convenience is the number one need state when it comes to picking up a breakfast drink. This is why breakfast and dairy drinks continue to perform strongly in the impulse channel, with Weetabix On The Go accounting for 86% of breakfast drink sales in convenience. Although we see a lot of our consumption taking place in the home, the return of more on the move behaviours and more hectic mornings post-lockdown has helped to boost breakfast drink sales in the past few months.
Changing habits certainly affected bar consumption with more people choosing traditional cereals during the various lockdowns. We have seen the on the go return, albeit with more of a hybrid focus from an office perspective. There are rising social occasions as well, where the humble cereal bar can play a key role – whether that’s the half-time pocket saviour when the queue for the snack bar is too long or as a mid-morning pick-me-up when out at the shops.
“We’re confident that Alpen can play a critical role in helping the cereal bars category build back up,” says Burgess. “We have a plan to help bars recover by leading with tastier products, backing the right trends and introducing innovation, such as Alpen Oat Blends or Alpen Light White Chocolate and Raspberry – the latter of which is already worth more than £1.6m RSV since launching a year ago.”
Chris McLaughlin, Commercial Director at St Pierre Groupe, comments: “At St Pierre Groupe, we are definitely seeing a move back to on-the-go consumption. Stay home sales are continuing, thanks to flexible working, but more people are out and about, and for wholesalers, stocking our brands is the ideal way for their customers to get their share of the action in both areas.”
Bread, morning goods and rolls, St Pierre Groupe’s areas of strength, remain in consistent demand in our difficult economic climate. In the last 12 weeks total bread and morning goods unit sales have held more or less steady, while rolls as a sub-category have proved more price resilient, with volumes remaining stable. At the same time, the rising cost of living means shoppers and other end users of these products increasingly want value and less waste. The St Pierre Groupe’s brands St Pierre and Baker Street are well placed to help, by offering extended shelf-life, while the Paul Hollywood range offers part-baked solutions for people leading busy lives, resulting in sales growth across the board.
White and wholemeal are still hugely important in the bread category, with annual sales of £765m and £179m (Nielsen Value Sales – L52 Weeks July 30th, 2022.) These value figures include the recent average 11 per cent increase in prices.
“Unit sales of both white and wholemeal have declined, making it all the more important for wholesalers to think about adding excitement and building sales in growth areas,” adds McLaughlin.
Rolls are the standout performer in the overall bakery category, as the only sub category reporting volume and value growth over the year (Nielsen Value Sales – L52 Weeks July 30th, 2022.) The summer months have increased rolls’ importance, with their share of the bread category peaking at 17.8 per cent in the four weeks to the end of July.
In morning goods, sweet goods are showing 17 per cent value growth in the last 12 weeks and now make up 48 per cent of total subcategory sales. Products performing particularly well in morning goods include brioche, sweet buns and pains au chocolat, all seeing growth in the last 12 weeks, of 10, 20 and 17 per cent respectively (Nielsen Value Sales – L12 Weeks July 30th, 2022).
“Our brands continue to perform strongly,” says McLaughlin. “Shoppers are looking for products that offer versatility to help minimise waste and cater for multiple meal occasions. They want foods that offer taste, convenience, versatility and good value. There is a major opportunity for bakery brands with long-life multi-pack formats like St Pierre, Baker Street and Paul Hollywood.”
St Pierre Groupe’s brands offer products with an extended shelf-life, which is resulting in growth across the board. In the rolls sector, the £5m sales increase in the last 12 weeks accounts for 52 per cent of overall rolls growth in this period. The St Pierre and Baker Street brands have delivered 92 per cent of this growth. St Pierre is the only Top 10 bakery brand, based on the last 12 weeks’ sales, that is currently showing volume growth, up 53 per cent, driving an 80 per cent growth in value versus last year (Nielsen Value Sales – L52 Weeks July 30th, 2022).
The St Pierre brand’s value growth has accelerated from 65 per cent in the last 52 weeks to 91 per cent in the last 4 weeks.
As a result of these gains, St Pierre Groupe’s latest quarterly value sales are 41 per cent higher than the previous 12 weeks (Nielsen Value Sales – L12 Weeks July 30th, 2022). Annual sales are up 22 per cent and 42 per cent ahead in annual value sales on two years ago (Nielsen Value Sales – L52 Weeks July 30th, 2022). St Pierre Groupe is now also the UK’s fifth largest bakery supplier and the fastest growing.
“Our advice is to focus on not just the biggest sellers but the strongest growers, like St Pierre Brioche Burger Buns 6’s, now the 4th biggest selling roll in the UK, with £10.3m in sales and St Pierre Seeded Brioche Burger Buns, in 5th place with £5.6m (Nielsen Value Sales – L52 Weeks July 30th, 2022),” suggests McLaughlin.
“Stocking a wide variety of instantly recognisable items, like St Pierre and Baker Street’s burger buns that meet the demands of the consumer, offers wholesalers huge potential. To help maximise customer spend and overall sales, wholesalers should look to be strategic with their in-depot merchandising, as this will encourage upselling.
“The other key thing for wholesalers to note is that chefs, whether at home or in foodservice, are not restricted by a ‘product name.’ People are looking for consistent quality for every meal occasion. Bakery is so versatile, and a burger bun works just as well for a burger as for an upgraded breakfast roll.”
St Pierre Groupe works closely with wholesalers in joint business planning and help them empower their retail customers to use their in-store merchandising to boost shoppers’ basket spend. Eye-catching displays play an important role in prompting spontaneous purchase decisions and inspire shoppers to trade up. St Pierre, for example, offers a choice of attractive freestanding display units, which help to utilise floor space efficiently while achieving the fullest impact.
Andrew Bradshaw, UK Sales Director at Dole Sunshine Company, comments: “Latest data from Mintel shows that fruit is the fourth most popular food to be eaten at breakfast, after cereal, bakery and porridge.”
Meanwhile, unsurprisingly healthiness is high on consumers’ radars, with 36% of breakfast eaters saying health reasons have prompted them to change what they have for breakfast over the last 12 months. This drive to be healthier is also apparent with the potential for breakfast foods to shout about calorie content, as 45% of eaters say they consider how many calories are in their breakfast as part of their daily intake.
“As the current cost of living crisis continues to bite and is likely to worsen as we head from Autumn into Winter, it’s safe to assume that consumers are likely to continue to change their shopping behaviours and be more conscious of product value for money incorporating quality, waste, convenience and choice which is where ambient products can increasingly have a role to play,” adds Bradshaw. “Shoppers understand that ambient goods not only offer good value and have longer shelf lives, but in the case of our Dole packaged fruit range, can also be one of your five-a-day and a healthy part of their overall diet.”
There’s no doubt that for many, the pandemic and accompanying lockdown restrictions gave people more time at breakfast but as things slowly return to something more ‘normal’, so other factors are impacting choices. Consumers are now looking for breakfast items that are not only easy to prepare and healthy, but also convenient and can be consumed on the go. This is where Dole’s fruit in juice cups range can really come into play as a credible option, as they can be enjoyed while sitting around the breakfast table on their own or as a topping on yoghurt, cereal or porridge, but also as a snack on the way to work or even at your desk. Finally, Dole fruit cups are available in a range of pack sizes from single 113g, single 198g and of course multipacks.
Dole’s best-selling products are the Pineapple, Mandarin and Peach variants of the fruit in juice range which can be found in most major grocery retailers.
Dole has recently announced two new additions to its Fruit in Juice range. The new flavours of Mango in juice and Pear in juice have arrived to complement the existing range of Tropical Fruit, Peach, Pineapple, Mandarins and Mixed Fruits in juice cups. Mango in juice and Pear in juice are now available in convenient packs of four, meaning the great taste of these sun-ripened fruits can now be consumed either on the go or kept in the fridge or cupboard for a later date. Like the other Dole fruit in juice variants, both new products contain 100% fruit in juice with zero added sugar, have less than 100 calories per serving, and come in a handy four pack with an RRP of £2.19.
Dole Sunshine Company is the UK category leader in packaged fruit snacks, with its entire product range containing 100% real fruit, with no added sugar in any of its fruit in juice range. IRI data shows Dole Sunshine Company has a 60% value share of the fruit in juice cups category and a 77% value share of the fruit in jelly cups category.
“We’ve used a variety of marketing mechanics to bring Dole further into the nation’s consciousness this year, including a social media campaign to promote the Dole range as a healthy choice, using the Shopmium app to offer coupons to our consumers in supermarkets, and soon we will have a very exciting advertising campaign to announce which will encourage consumers to think about making healthier snacking choices but I can’t share the details on this yet,” says Bradshaw.
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