CityLife

Confectionery sales drop as health concerns grow

CONSUMER health concerns have hit sales of some popular food and drink brands, a report out today says.

Crisps, chocolate and sweets were some of the worst-affected goods of the past year, according to trade magazine The Grocer.

Walkers Crisps lost nearly £30 million in sales across its range of bagged snacks over the 12 months to October 2005, figures from market analysts ACNielsen show.

Sugar confectionery sales were down nearly 3% in value across the whole sector.

Healthier products fared better, with Innocent smoothies up 207% and dairy drink Actimel up 36%.

Successful innovations included St Ivel's Omega 3-enriched milk, Walkers' low-fat Potato Heads crisps and the cholesterol-lowering drink Danacol, The Grocer Top Products Survey found.

Alcohol sales increased by 2.6% to £11.54 billion, with wines and cider growing faster than beer and spirits.

Tobacco has continued its fall from favour with a 1.3% sales drop.

The Grocer Top Products survey, based on ACNielsen sales data, looks at leading brands in 24 different categories.

Claire Hu, marketing editor at The Grocer, said: "It's been a challenging year for the food and drink industry, as the nation's preoccupation with its expanding waistline starts to impact on categories such as crisps and confectionery.

"Health is the number one issue for the industry at the moment and it is responding by investing heavily in innovations and lowering fat, sugar and salt levels in products."

Walkers crisps held on to the number one spot as the UK's top branded bagged snack, despite a 1.2% sales drop year-on-year.

Pringles stayed in second place in this category after an 8.2% sales drop.

Cadbury Dairy Milk remained in the top spot as the best-selling branded chocolate confectionery, followed by Galaxy in second place and Maltesers in third.

Tony Bilsborough, communications director for Cadbury Trebor Bassett, said: "It is good news that we are still number one and that Dairy Milk is the nation's favourite in its centenary year."

Walkers said in a statement: "It has been widely reported that this is a challenging time for the entire category.

"However, we have a wide range of products and in some areas we are seeing excellent growth, for example with Potato Heads. We are committed to our investment in the category."