In the Media

• 15/03/2019 - The Grocer

  Big four take control in bottled water as own label grabs share

  
  

  The UK’s leading supermarkets are soaring ahead of the discounters in bottled water sales this year, in a reversal of 2018’s fortunes.
  
  In a market currently worth a total of £558.4m in take-home sales, Asda was the standout performer with a 12.3% value increase to £75.9m, followed by Tesco’s uplift of 7.3% to £153m [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 4 November 2018]. Sainsbury’s was up 6.9% in value, while Morrisons grew by 5.8%.
  
  Meanwhile, Aldi managed just a 4.7% value gain - markedly below the category average of 6.9% - and Lidl’s sales were down 0.1%.
  
  Kantar Worldpanel analyst Iona White said the top four grocers had “excelled in their performance in the latest year”, having lost out in 2017 to the discounters, which both achieved growth in excess of 20%.

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• 15/03/2019 - The Telegraph

  Watercress growers plan trendy makeover as Millennials are snubbing it

  
  

  In 1920s Britain it was a popular fast food and often the only green veg available to help protect the nation from winter colds and flu.
  
  But watercress has fallen out of favour among young people and is seen as a dowdy alternative to its trendy rivals kale and spinach.
  
  Just five per cent of under 28s now buy watercress, compared to 41 per cent of 35 to 54 year olds, Kantar Worldpanel data shows.
  
  Growers, alarmed that teenagers and young professionals are snubbing their produce, have decided to fight back with an image makeover for the leafy green.
  
  A new Instagram campaign taglined #watercresschallenge is urging young people to "chop it, blitz it, toss it and wear it."
  

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• 06/03/2019 - The Times

  Sainsbury’s sales are stuck in reverse

  
  

  A further fall in sales at J Sainsbury has thrown a still sharper focus on the supermarket’s planned £12 billion merger with Asda.
  
  Sales at Britain’s second biggest grocer slid by 1 per cent in the 12 weeks to February 24, with its market share falling by 0.5 percentage points to 15.7 per cent, according to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel, the market researcher.
  
  The figure compares with sales increases of 10 per cent and 5.4 per cent, respectively, at Aldi and Lidl, the German-owned discounters, and marks an acceleration from the 0.3 per cent fall in sales that Sainsbury’s suffered in the 12 weeks to January 27.
  

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• 05/03/2019 - Euro News

  Sainsbury's lags rivals again in latest supermarket data

  
  

  LONDON (Reuters) - Sainsbury's was the worst performer of Britain's big four supermarket groups in the latest 12-week period, continuing a long run of underperformance, industry data showed on Tuesday.
  
  Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said sales at Sainsbury's - Britain's No. 2 grocer that is trying to buy No. 3 Asda - fell 1.0 percent in the 12 weeks to Feb. 24.
  
  That compares to gains of 1.3 percent, 1.0 percent and 0.8 percent at market leader Tesco, Asda and No. 4 Morrisons respectively.

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• 05/03/2019 - The Guardian

  Booze cruise back in fashion as Britons stock up before Brexit

  
  

  The booze cruise is back in fashion as shoppers stock up on cheap wine from across the Channel before the Brexit deadline on 29 March.
  
  Sales at Majestic Wine’s Calais stores soared 49% last month and pre-orders are up 78% in March as shoppers take advantage of France’s low alcohol taxes while they can.
  
  Food cupboard essentials such as tinned foods, household goods such as toilet paper, medicines and toiletries are top of the list for those filling their cupboards according to a survey by retail analysis firm Kantar Worldpanel. But nearly 17% said they were considering stockpiling alcohol.
  
  

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• 05/03/2019 - Sky News

  'One in 10' shoppers stockpiling food ahead of Brexit

  
  

  One in ten shoppers claim to be stockpiling food in case of disruption to supplies in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to a respected grocery sector report.
  
  Kantar Worldpanel, which compiles market share and price data for the industry, said a further 26% of consumers who responded to its online survey were considering whether to hoard essential supplies ahead of the current 29 March deadline for the UK to leave the EU.
  
  The wider report pointed to sales growth at all the major chains, except Sainsbury's, during the 12 weeks to 24 February.

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