SCOTTISH

BRAND FOOTPRINT
2019
THE MOST CHOSEN FOOD AND
DRINK BRANDS IN SCOTLAND
AU GUST 2019

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SCOT TISH BR AND FOOTPRINT 2019

THE MOST CHOSEN BRANDS IN SCOTLAND

Welcome to the third annual Scottish CONSUMER REACH
Brand Footprint, our ranking of the top Top 20 brands in Scotland POINTS (MILLIONS)
performing brands in Scotland. The list
is based on our global Brand Footprint CHANGE IN RANK
SCOTLAND RANK VS LAST YEAR
GB RANK
report which uncovers which brands are
being bought by the most consumers 1 WARBURTONS 0 1
the most often.
2 HEINZ 0 2
The metric used to quantify this is
Consumer Reach Points (CRP) – this 3 MCVITIE’S 0 3
measures how many households
(penetration) are buying a brand and 4 COCA-COLA 0 6
how often (frequency), giving a true
representation of shopper choice. 5 HOVIS 0 4
Essentially CRP records the number of
times a brand is chosen off the shelf. 6 WALKERS 0 5

The brands that appear in the ranking 7 MULLER +1 7

are well-established household names
which have been mainstays on 8 CADBURY’S DAIRY MILK +1 9
supermarket shelves for many years.
Even the double-digit growth of the 9 IRN BRU +1 150
discounters - with their focus on own
label ranges - has not dented the 10 GRAHAMS THE FAMILY DAIRY +3 185
dominance of these brands.
11 KINGSMILL -4 8
That said, it is worth noting that no
challenger brands have managed to
12 BIRDS EYE +2 10
grab a space on the list, a sign of just
how difficult it can be to establish
13 MCCAIN -2 12
and maintain a brand presence in the
fiercely competitive take-home grocery
14 PEPSI -2 11
market.
15 LURPAK 0 30
16 NESCAFÉ +1 14
17 CADBURY’S -1 13
18 GALAXY NEW 24
19 KIT KAT +1 18
20 BATCHELORS -1 21

Table 1

Shifting sands
It has been another year of disruption
for Scottish brands, which continue
to grapple with the changing retail
landscape and shifting shopper
behaviour. While spending a similar
amount on groceries as those living
in England and Wales, the Scottish
household shops very differently. Scots
make an additional 28 shopping trips per
year compared with the British average,
but balance this out by spending slightly
less on each occasion, reflecting the
unique retail structure north of the
border.

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 SCOT TISH BR AND FOOTPRINT 2019

SHOPPER SPEND
Top 30 Scottish brands in Scotland

Annual average OVERALL FMCG

grocery spend
RANKING IN
SCOTLAND

1 IRN BRU 9
2 GRAHAMS THE FAMILY DAIRY 10
3 BELL’S FOOD GROUP 29
£4,173.12 34
4 MCLELLAND
5 AG BARR 37
6 TUNNOCKS 39
7 BAXTERS 43
Shopping trips
MCINTOSH 49
in a year
8

9 MALCOLM ALLAN 57
10 MACKIES 76
11 SCOTTY 78

296
12 HALLS 82
13 TENNENTS 102
14 SIMON HOWIE 130
15 WISEMAN 132
16 J G ROSS 141
Spend per trip
17 BORDER BISCUITS 152
18 HIGHLAND SPRING GROUP 156
19 ROWAN GLEN 158
NAIRNS 170
£14.09
20

21 ALBERT BARTLETT 183

22 MAC B 210
23 PATERSONS 212
Where we shop is changing too. Co-op, 24 GREAT SCOT 241
Scotland’s 4th largest retailer, delivered
a strong performance this year, growing 25 FAMOUS GROUSE 242
by 7%. However, it’s the discounters 258
26 MACKAYS
once again making their mark – with
Aldi and Lidl both outperforming 27 CALDER MILLERFIELD 303
the wider market. Collectively the
28 BUCHANAN 308
discounters gained 0.9% points of
market share, worth £126 million of 29 SCOTTISH BLEND 310
sales through the tills. With more store
openings planned for the forthcoming 30 WE HAE MEAT 357
year, their rise looks set to continue.
Table 2

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SCOT TISH BR AND FOOTPRINT 2019
GROCERY RETAILER MARKET SHARES
28.5
18.6
12.6
Tesco Asda Morrisons
Till Roll, 52we 16 June 2019
Brand loyalty
The Scottish consumer has historically
shown a preference for homegrown
brands. This remains the case, and over
the course of the year, shoppers spent
£164 more on brands per person than
the average Briton. Brands also take a
higher share of total spend in Scotland
when compared to Britain overall, and
are growing faster than supermarket
own label ranges.
The five most popular brands in
Scotland (table 1) remain; Warburtons
in the top spot, followed by Heinz,
McVities, Coca Cola and Hovis, with no
change in the top five compared with
last year. The big brands are therefore
remarkably resilient to change; whether
that’s government intervention (soft
drinks) or changing consumer tastes
(bread).
4
10.1
9.2
7.1
6.3
Co-op Sainsbury’s Aldi Lidl
Snapping at the heels of the top 20
most chosen brands in Scotland, and
ones to watch for future rankings, are
McLelland, Bells, AG Barr and Tunnock’s.
Hometown glory
When it comes to the most popular
Scottish brands in Scotland (table 2), the
top two brands hold their places in the
ranking. Irn Bru retains its number one
position, with its sugar free and Extra
variants performing well. The impact of
the brand’s newly launched energy drink
will be reflected in next year’s study.
The rest of the AG Barr drinks portfolio
appears at number five on the list.
Not far behind Irn Bru is Grahams Family
Dairy, in second place. The brand’s
NPD portfolio has helped it to gain
ground and expand into health-focused
categories such as high protein yoghurt
and ice cream, and cottage cheese.
2.8
1.6 1.4
Independents Iceland Waitrose
Ind
Bells Food Group climbs the ranking to
sit in 3rd place, up from 5th place last
year.
The Free From category continues
its ascent and Nairns makes an
appearance on the ranking as its
portfolio develops to address this
market. When it comes to alcohol,
Tennent’s is once again the only beer
brand to make it to the top 30 and
Famous Grouse is the only spirits brand
on the list.
For Scottish brands, success on their
home territory is a source of great pride
and many will be delighted to see their
name appear on the list of most chosen
Scottish brands. However, very few
homegrown brands make it onto the top
20 list of the most popular in Scotland
overall. Only Irn Bru and Grahams make
the top ten, sitting at 9th and 10th place

respectively, and are therefore able to
call behemoths like Warburtons and
Heinz their peers.
Looking ahead
There are some themes that look set to
impact future growth across Scotland
and the rest of Britain; health and
wellbeing, environmental concerns and
government intervention in food and
drink.
Dedication to moderation
In the same way that Scotland blazed
a trail with the smoking ban, it too
was the first of the home nations to
introduce minimum unit pricing in May
2018 - a policy now being considered
by the Welsh government. Whilst it’s
too early to know what impact the
move has had on the nation’s health,
Scots are undoubtedly drinking less in
recent years. There’s been a reduction
SCOT TISH BR AND FOOTPRINT 2019
in volume of take-home alcohol bought
overall, and drinkers are paying more
for what they do imbibe. In addition to
this, consumers are selecting smaller
pack sizes, and paying approximately
£1 more per litre than their counterparts
elsewhere in Britain. The non-alcoholic
and low alcohol sector continues to
grow at a faster rate than in the rest
of Britain, as a growing proportion of
the population looks to moderate their
drinking habits.
High sugar
products look set
to remain in the
spotlight as the
government seeks to
tackle rising obesity.
Sugar high
High sugar products look set to remain
in the spotlight as the government
seeks to tackle rising obesity rates and
the related impact on the health of
the nation. The Scottish government’s
next round of policies aimed at nudging
consumers towards a healthier diet
have yet to be published at the time of
writing. Given the success of the soft
drinks sugar levy in terms of reducing
the quantity of sugar that the nation
consumes, many brands will be looking
at how they can make their products
more appealing to consumers who
are actively trying to follow a healthier
lifestyle.
Green dream
As consumers become ever more aware
of the environmental impact of their
choices, brands will continue to look at
ways to address these concerns. When
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SCOT TISH BR AND FOOTPRINT 2019

it comes to packaging, we have already

seen brands such as Highland Spring
adding recycled plastic to its bottles,
Border Biscuits reducing the plastic it
uses in packaging and Stoats using
bio-degradable film. Retailers look set
to play their part, with many looking
at plastic-free fruit and vegetable
aisles and offering paper bags instead
of plastic. The government has also
outlined plans to introduce a Deposit
Return Scheme for some plastic drinking
containers, cans and glass, provoking
controversy from organisations which
represent independent retailers who are
concerned about how this could impact
their business.

Consumers are increasingly educated

about how their everyday food choices
can add up to a big impact on the
environment, which has resulted in Looking out for growth
the rise of diets featuring less or no opportunities About
meat. Whilst vegetarians still make up Exploring other channels is one of Brand Footprint
just under 5% of the population, the the growth levers that brands can
number of flexitarians continues to explore. With the out of home channel At Kantar, we believe that in
rise, with about 1 in 10 households continuing to grow at twice the rate of order to grow brands need
now containing someone who is take-home grocery, this may provide
to be chosen more often and
actively reducing the amount of meat an opportunity for more physical
by more people. Now in its
in their diet. availability, and new consumers.
seventh year, Brand Footprint
is our global study of which
Future Trends brands shoppers are choosing
to buy, and why.
The metric used for Brand
Footprint is called Consumer
Reach Points (CRP) and is
calculated by looking at
penetration and frequency in
Health and Government Environment combination with the number of
wellbeing legislation Plastic; consumers households in the country.
73% of us wish to Soft drinks levy want to reduce but Consumer Reach Points is the
live a healthier delivered, MUP don’t want to pay, most comprehensive measure
lifestyle, older introduced, what’s introduction of available of how many times a
consumers next for food? plastic free aisles or brand is chosen from retailers’
especially aware days of the week by
shelves.
of health. retailers.

Find the full global report at kantarworldpanel.com/brand-footprint-ranking

For more information please contact

Lesley Ann Gray, Strategic Insight Director at Kantar, Scotland
Email: lesleyann.gray@kantar.com
Published
Mobile: 07810 853 154 August 2019