Rise and shine

Healthy and on-the-go innovations are helping to kick start the key breakfast opportunity.

By Gaelle Walker

Breakfast: it’s one of the most important meals of the day, and as shoppers’ early-morning eating habits continue to evolve, retailers are being served up an increasingly appetising menu of opportunities to profit.

The shopper drive towards healthier living continues to influence the breakfast category agenda – shaping much of the NPD delivered of late.

Andrew Bradshaw, UK Sales Director at Dole Sunshine Company explains: “There’s no doubt that consumers have become even more health aware since the start of the pandemic and unsurprisingly this has translated into being more health conscious with their food choices. A recent survey by StreetBees of nearly 50,000 consumers showed that the number one attribute sought when deciding on what to eat and drink was ‘no added or low sugar’ content.”

The emergence of today’s new hybrid working environment is also raising the importance of other factors, such as convenience and on-the-go formats, Bradshaw continues.

“Consumers are now looking for breakfast items that are not only easy to prepare and healthy, but also convenient and can be consumed on the go.

“At Dole we’ve recently announced two new additions to our Fruit in Juice range: Mango in juice and Pear in juice which are now available to the grocery and convenience channels in convenient packs of four to be consumed either on the go or kept in the fridge or cupboard for a later date.”

The trend towards healthier breakfast products is also playing out in the bread aisles where, according to Hovis, unit sales of healthier packaged breads with seeds and grains are “holding up better than other categories in the market”.

Responding to this trend, Hovis launched a new Granary Cob as part of its Hovis Bakers Since 1886 range earlier this year.

Breakfast biscuits are also feeling the healthy heat.

“The healthier biscuit category is growing by 4.5% following the pandemic, with more consumers showing a renewed interest in their well-being,” Susan Nash, Trade Communications Manager at Mondelez International says.

BelVita is a key driver of this category growth – currently growing at 10% and leading the way in terms of both frequency 4% MAT and penetration 11% MAT.

BelVita recently released three brand-new low fat, salt and sugar additions to its belVita Fruit Crunch range in the form of Raisin & Currant and Apple & Pear flavours, and belVita Soft Bakes Filled Apricot.

Arguably offering the most convenient breakfast on-the-go format, the breakfast drinks category also offers retailers a key way to invigorate their sales with breakfast and dairy drinks continuing “to perform strongly in the impulse channel,” Darryl Burgess, Head of Sales for Weetabix says.

“Although we see a lot of our consumption taking place in the home, the return of more on the move behaviours and more hectic mornings post-lockdown has helped to boost breakfast drink sales in the past few months,” he adds.

In a bid to drive further growth for its Weetabix On The Go brand, the company launched a limited-edition Café Latte breakfast drink earlier this summer. Containing a similar caffeine content to a cup of coffee, the product is designed to offer the ultimate in breakfast convenience, providing shoppers with their breakfast and coffee needs in one gulp.