Nuts, Seeds and Dried Fruit - UK

Underpinning the strong growth in the nuts, seeds and dried fruit market - valued at £511 million in 2007 - is the evolution of all three segments, their healthy nutritional profile boosted by innovative NPD.

Mintel throws the spotlight on who is buying the products, why they are buying them and which companies are most likely to get their custom.

Key themes

• As the link between diet and health tightens, consumers have been increasingly attracted by the healthy nutritional profile offered by nuts, seeds and dried fruit.
• Manufacturers have responded with a raft of products which have tapped into evolving eating trends eg healthy school lunchbox, workplace snacking, in-home leisure, indulgence treats.
• At the same time, efforts to make the category more engaging through the use of fun packaging (snack or sharing packs) have added value.
• The evolution of the ethical and organic sectors has encouraged new entrants eg Liberation Foods and this has helped drive the market.

Mintel last examined the UK market for nuts, seeds and dried fruit in September 2006.

Issues in the Market

Key themes

Definition

Abbreviations

Market in Brief

Healthy nutritional profile boosts growth

Market taps into evolving eating patterns

High level of innovation in all sectors

Consumer attitudes and motivation

Variety of corporate involvement

Future outlook

Internal Market Environment

Key points

Consumers take action to improve diet

Figure 1: Trends for health food statements, 2003-07

The healthy alternative

The should do’s

Snacks get a bad press

Snacks as a meal substitute

Figure 2: Agreement with statements on snacking, 2003-07

Snacks as a habit

Because you’re worth it

Resurgence in home cooking

Home baking on the rise

Going organic

Fair trade drives ethical foods

Schools draw up healthy lunchbox policies

Opportunities in leisure venue catering

Broader Market Environment

Key points

PDI - supporting growth

Population changes

Figure 3: UK Population changes in socio-economic status and age, 2003-13

An ageing population

AB socio-economic status is growing

Working population by gender

Figure 4: Working population, by gender, 2003-13

Women - working and snacking more

Competitive Context

Key points

Figure 5: Retail sales of snack and breakfast products, by value, 2003-07

Eating patterns shift

Snacks - fighting back with premium products

Sweet biscuits maintain momentum

Healthy growth for fresh fruit

Breakfast foods - active health impetus

Functional yogurts become more mainstream

Breakfast cereals

Cereal bars

Future outlook

The implications for nuts, seeds and dried fruit

Strengths and Weaknesses in the Market

Strengths

Weaknesses

Market Value and Forecast

Key points

Market taps into evolving eating patterns

Figure 7: UK retail sales of nuts, seeds and dried fruit, by value, 2003-08

Figure 8: UK retail sales of nuts, seeds and dried fruit, 2003-07

Sensational seeds

New nuts

Dynamic dried fruit

The future of the market

Figure 9: UK retail sales of nuts seeds and dried fruit, by value, 2003-13

Segmentation

Figure 10: UK value sales of nuts, by type, by value, 2003-13

Figure 11: UK value sales of dried fruit, by value, 2003-13

Figure 12: UK value sales of dedicated snack-size packs* of dried fruit, 2003-13

Figure 13: UK value sales of seeds, by type, by value, 2003-13

Factors used in the forecast

Segment Performance - Nuts

Key points

Value sales of nuts

Figure 14: UK value sales of Nuts, 2003-08

Nuts have cracked it

Retail sales of nuts by type

Figure 15: UK retail sales of nuts, by type, 2003-07

Mixing it

Peanut players pepper up their act

Segment Performance - Dried Fruit

Key points

Figure 16: UK value sales of dried fruit, by value, 2003-08

Delicious dried fruit

Figure 17: UK value sales of dedicated snack-size packs* of dried fruit, 2003-08

New entrants and formats drive snack packs

Figure 18: UK retail sales of dried fruit, by type, by value, 2003-07

More fruitful development of tree fruits

Future outlook

Segment Performance - Seeds

Key points

Figure 19: UK value sales of seeds, 2003-08

Seeds sow growth

Figure 20: UK retail sales of seeds, by type, 2003-07

Mixing it up

Salad days

Market Share

Key points

Figure 21: Brand/manufacturer shares in the nuts market, by value, 2003-07

Nobby’s Nuts underperforms

Figure 22: Brand/manufacturer shares, in the dried fruit market by value, 2003-07

Whitworths whips up a storm of activity

Niche players put own-labels under pressure

Inspired by the new school food guidelines

High degree of fragmentation in seeds sector

Companies and Products

Key points

Main players

Humdinger

PepsiCo

Stream Foods

S&B Herba

Trigon Snacks

United Biscuits

Whitworths

Niche players

Community Foods

Dormen Foods

The Food Doctor

Ocean Spray

Salty Dog

Sun Valley

Day Plus One

New Entrants

Eat Natural

Kellogg

Liberation Foods

Natural Balance Foods

Urban Fresh Fruit

Forest Feast

Suma

Passion Shed

Kidsnax

Good4U

Jolly Good Food Company

Sneaky Snacks

Nature’s Table

Lawncourt Harvest

Percy Dalton’s

Own-labels

Tesco

Sainsbury’s

Other

Brand Communication

Key points

Main monitored media spend

Figure 23: Main monitored media spend on nuts, seeds and dried fruit, 2004-08 (Jan-May)

Declining above-the-line support

Main monitored media adspend by advertiser

Figure 24: Main monitored media advertising expenditure on nuts, seeds and dried fruit, by advertiser, 2004-08 (Jan-May)

Less spend equals lower market share

Investing in growth

Future outlook

Channels to Market

Key points

Figure 25: UK sales of nuts, seeds and dried fruit, by type of outlet, 2003-07

Supermarkets strengthen grip

Discounting for growth

Independents and health stores fight back

CTNs and forecourt retailers target impulse snackers

On-trade offers opportunities

The Consumer: Consumption Patterns

Key points

Trends for consumption

Figure 26: Trends for consumption of packeted and tinned nuts, 2003-07

Heavy usage increases

Potential for premium producers

The importance of the Internet

Trends for consumption - own-label vs branded

Figure 27: Trends for whether consumers eat own-label or branded packeted and tinned nuts, 2003-07

Branded products failing to communicate with consumers

Trends for consumption amongst kids

Figure 28: Trends for consumption for snacks amongst kids aged 11-14, 2003-07

Downturn in consumption amongst children

Trends for types of between-meal snacks

Figure 29: Trends for types of snacks/nibbles eaten between meals amongst youth aged 11-16, 2003-07

Children choosing healthier snacks

Appendix

Advertising data

Appendix - Internal Market Environment

Figure 38: Health food statements, by demographics, 2007

Figure 39: Agreement with statements on snacking, by demographic sub-group, 2007

Appendix - The Consumer: Consumption Patterns - Detailed Demographics

Figure 40: Demographics for consumption of packeted and tinned nuts, 2007

Figure 41: Consumers who eat own-label or branded packeted and tinned nuts, by demographics, 2007

Figure 42: Nuts, seeds and dried fruit eaten at least once a month, by gender, age, social grade, standard regions, employment status of main income earners, daily newspapers read, age(s) of own children, daily internet usage, supermarket used, May 2008