Demand for sweet pies, tarts and flans grew by almost 10% last year as shoppers filled their baskets with comfort foods. Sales of hot desserts were up £2.6m, according to analysts at Kantar Worldpanel, which found more people buying hot puddings, and doing so more frequently.
“Asda’s Baker’s Selection range has witnessed 151% growth, helping to drive strong performance in the sponge pudding and chilled pancake sectors,” Kantar analyst Fridaos Abdulrauf told the Grocer. “The Aldi Specially Selected range has also performed very well, seeing 67.2% growth, mainly driven by sponge puddings. Waitrose’s addition of Bramley apple crumble two-packs helped boost performance.”
Aldi and the Co-op had the strongest performance, with pudding sales growing 22.1% and 19.9% respectively.
Many big brands have lost out, according to grocery market analyst IRI. It found Premier Foods’ Ambrosia brand was down £3.4m, Aunt Bessie’s down £2.7m and Gü down £504,000.
Last month the Grocer revealed that Gü had shrunk the weight of its twin-pack deserts, while keeping prices the same – a move driven by the increased cost of ingredients.
One brand name that has enjoyed sweet success is Mary Berry. Sales of her Summer Fruit and Belgian Chocolate Brownie puddings in Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado were worth £1.2m.
Jem Hodson, marketing manager at Hain Daniels, which produces the Mary Berry desserts, told the Grocer that cautious shoppers, with less money to spend, are sticking to familiar foods. “We are seeing less growth in truly new ideas, and more in products that are safe but with a twist, reducing the risk of consumers spending money on something they may not like,” says Hodson.
Another steady performer is the Christmas pudding. A growing number of retailers are expected to offer premium revamps of the dessert this Christmas, including a Pedro Ximénez sherry and pear pudding at Morrisons and a gluten-free pudding at Lidl.
