Brand spend in decline, but Britons stay loyal to local

UK – For the first time ever, none of the world’s 10 most chosen brands appear in the equivalent UK top 10 ranking, according to the latest Brand Footprint UK ranking from Kantar Worldpanel

Britain bunting crop

The ranking, which measures which brands are being bought by most consumers the most often, has revealed that the number of British brands among the top 10 has increased to seven (up from six last year). 

Worldwide, spending on local brands has increased by 3.9%, compared with a 2.6% growth in spending on global brands. While the amount spend on brands in the UK has fallen, local brands outperformed global brands, falling by 1.2% compared with 2.8%.

The top 10 UK FMCG brands according to the Brand Footprint study are: 

  1. Warburtons
  2. Heinz
  3. Kingsmill
  4. McVitie's
  5. Hovis
  6. Walkers
  7. Müller
  8. Birds Eye
  9. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk
  10. Cadbury

Five of this year’s top 10 brands – Kingsmill, Walkers, Müller, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Cadbury – have seen the frequency with which they are bought increase. But penetration (the percentage of the population buying a brand) has fallen for each of the top 10. Overall branded sales have decreased by 1.6%, while private labels have seen growth of 1.7%.

“It’s been a challenging year for brands across all FMCG sectors," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel.

"British retailers have stepped up their own label offer, consolidating and recalibrating their private-label lines in response to consumer demand for quality goods at low prices.  The growth of Aldi and Lidl’s market share has also played a role as consumers become accustomed to seeing non-branded products on the shelves.  

"Consumers have responded by increasingly opting for own-label alternatives across all retailers, and the proportion of the population buying the top 10 branded products has fallen by an average 2.5%.

“Brands and manufacturers need to keep pace with changing consumer behaviours if they are to succeed.  Today’s shoppers want to be healthier, happier and have their lives made easier, so brands will need to innovate in a way that matches these needs – easing busy lifestyles and tapping into consumer concerns around health and wellbeing."

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.

The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.

Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.

For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.

Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.

0 Comments

Display name

Email

Join the discussion

Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest insights and trends...
Sign Up
Latest From MRS

Our latest training courses

Our new 2025 training programme is now launched as part of the development offered within the MRS Global Insight Academy

See all training

Specialist conferences

Our one-day conferences cover topics including CX and UX, Semiotics, B2B, Finance, AI and Leaders' Forums.

See all conferences

MRS reports on AI

MRS has published a three-part series on how generative AI is impacting the research sector, including synthetic respondents and challenges to adoption.

See the reports

Progress faster...
with MRS 
membership

Mentoring

CPD/recognition

Webinars

Codeline

Discounts