Top 20 FMCG Brands in Scotland overview | Scottish Grocer & Convenience Retailer

Kantar Research reveals the FMCG goods that are most frequently chosen by consumers in Scotland

Commentary by Lesley Ann Gray, strategic lead for Scotland at market research company Kantar

AT Kantar, we shape the brands of tomorrow by better understanding people everywhere. We use our shopper data to understand the market and category and find those drivers for growth. We decode shopper behaviour.

The Brand Footprint is a report that Kantar produces that spans 42,000 brands, 76% of the global population, five continents and 62 different territories, including Scotland.

Rather than rank these brands by how big they are in terms of value, we use our “Consumer Reach Measure”. This is a measure that looks at how popular a brand is by taking the percentage of households that have bought them in any given year (penetration) and multiplying this by how often (frequency). It is a measure that is unique to Kantar.

Why do we look at brands in this way rather than just volume or value? It allows us to compare brands across different countries and removes any disparity in terms of how big a country or how the price of that product may differ across different continents.

All the brands on this list will have faced some tough headwinds during the last year. The report is taken from a time where inflation was only just starting to fall and where shoppers were still adapting their choices and behaviour.

To cope with the higher prices, we tracked them as they dropped out of some categories all together, bought less volume and less packs, switched to a cheaper own-label version or even just switched to a cheaper store where that brand may not be available. Behind each of these brands is a case study that shows how they have met these challenges.

We know that leading brands stand out by being meaningful  and different to more people. Brands that adapt to changing behaviour, which meet unmet needs, which are available and visible in more places, whether that is digital and/or physical space, are more likely to be chosen.

Our latest report proves that our winning brands, unsurprisingly, improved their levels of penetration to outpace the market. Some 35% of brands in the Scottish top 20 did so through improved penetration.

While penetration builds the foundation, frequency – how often consumers purchase a brand – amplifies the impact. Increasing frequency ensures that once a consumer buys into the brand, they are engaged and retained.

For smaller brands, a third of the growth will primarily come from new buyers; for super brands that have global reach, the addition of frequency brings in big numbers. And 20% of the brands on our Scottish list improved their frequency.

What is striking about the list from this year is just how little it has changed when we compare it to last year.

There are no new brands on the list, with the same brands jostling for position. Warburtons remains No.1, with 88% of us buying this brand 28 times a year. While their penetration increased, their frequency fell back slightly but not enough to lose the top spot.

Coca-Cola is No.2 and it is bought by 61% of households in Scotland, our other national drink, Irn-Bru is not that far behind and is bought by 45% of households and features at No.9.

The difference in frequency between these two soft drinks brands is not as big, with Irn-Bru purchased 13 times a year and Coca-Cola 17 times a year.

The other Scottish brands to earn their space in our top 20 are Graham’s The Family Dairy at No.11 and Tunnock’s coming in at No.20.

At 62% of penetration in Scotland, Graham’s just exceeds that of Coca-Cola but will need to double its frequency to take it on.

Coca-Cola may be Scotland’s No.2 but, for the 12th consecutive year, it remains the most-chosen FMCG brand on the planet, purchased more than seven billion times globally during the year.

How do you become the biggest of the big? To feature in our global list, there are two rules of thumb: Reaching a global penetration over 20% and being chosen seven times or more per year. Something for all brands to aim for!

For a full breakdown of the Top 20 FMCG Brands in Scotland, click the link here.