Saturday, March 27, 2010

Time-Tested Companies Top Britain’s 100 Biggest Brands


March 26, 2010

Britain’s most popular grocery brands saw another successful year despite significant economic challenges, according to the annual Britain’s 100 Biggest Brands report. Compiled by The Nielsen Company and published in trade magazine, The Grocer, the report ranks the 100 best selling grocery brands in Great Britain.

“The year was a tough one for the consumer and value for money became more important than ever before. What is apparent though is that shoppers have continued to buy trusted brands,” said Jake Shepherd, Marketing Director at Nielsen.

The 2009 sales value of the top 100 brands accounted for £16.7 billion (12.9%) of the total £130 billion grocery market, an increase of 4.5% YoY. The growth was ahead of total market growths which were 3.8% for the year.
Topping the table again this year is Coca Cola, which has become the first-ever grocery brand to pass the £1 billion mark in the U.K. The iconic brand was launched 110 years ago and continues to perform strongly growing 4.9% in 2009 to retain the top spot.

Other classic brands that have stood the test of time and feature in the top 10 of the league include bread brands Warburton’s (#2) and Hovis (#3). Warburton’s is 134 years old and the Bolton-based brand remains strong at number two. Hovis, whose branding hangs heavily on its heritage, enjoyed a very successful year with sales growing more than 13%, sits in fourth place. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, another brand which has survived for more than a century, ranks fifth and Britvic’s Robinsons drink — which has a history that can be traced back to 1823 — retained its 10th place position.

The oldest surviving brand in the top 100 league is Twinings, which entered the Top 100 for the first time this year, 304 years after Thomas Twining began selling tea from his first premises on the Strand in London. Three centuries later, the brand grew sales 11% and was one of the five new entries to the top 100.

“The report sees some really exceptional performances from brands whose stories began up to three centuries ago but who continued to prevail in 2009. Nielsen has seen consumers become much more cautious and many have undertaken strategies to save money on the weekly shop, but Britain’s 100 Biggest Grocery Brands report highlights that quality, trusted brands can survive and indeed flourish in strong and tough times alike,” concluded Shepherd.

Britain’s Top 25 Brands
Rank Brand
1 Coke
2 Warburtons
3 Walkers Crisps
4 Hovis
5 Cadbury Dairy Milk
6 Nescafe
7 Kingsmill
8 Andrex
9 Lucozade
10 Robinsons
11 Pepsi
12 McCains Chips & Potatoes
13 Tropicana
14 Whiskas Total
15 Muller Corner
16 Heinz Beanz
17 Lurpak
18 Danone Activia
19 Persil
20 Heinz Soup
21 Youngs Frozen Fish (Branded)
22 Pedigree Total
23 Flora
24 Felix Total
25 Cathedral City
Source: The Nielsen Company
In this report, a brand is defined as any products sold under a brand name within a given category. The report covers grocery brands only and does not include personal care, OTC, alcohol or tobacco products.
The complete list of 100 brands is available at The Grocer.