Nad Hussain

Koninklijke Grolsch reduce its UK alcohol content from 4% to 3.4%.   Prior to the drop in ABV, sales had dropped 55.8% to £3.4m which will save Asahi UK 23p in per 440ml can 💸   Asahi Beverages UK have also lowered the strength of other brands, like Dark Star Hophead when revenue rose 2.9% to £527m in 2023, but pre-tax losses increased to £14.1m.   Other brews to be ‘drinkflated’ down to 3.4% abv in recent years include:   🍺 Danish Pilsner by Carlsberg Group 🍺 John Smith’s Extra Smooth by The HEINEKEN Company 🍺 Bud Light by Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I   An Asahi spokesperson said: ‘Following much analysis, we decided to reformulate Grolsch to a new ABV of 3.4%, which went into market earlier this year. We are confident this still delivers an excellent premium beer that will appeal to a broad range of consumers.’ Grolsch is available at Sainsbury's.

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Heineken Launches 'Wider World of Cider' Summer Campaign to Boost Sales The HEINEKEN Company UK, the nation's largest brewer and cider maker, has unveiled its summer campaign 'Explore A Wider World of Cider,' aimed at helping retailers maximise cider sales. This initiative, running until August, will feature a series of in-store and in-depot activations across selected convenience stores, grocery outlets, and wholesalers, keeping cider at the forefront of shoppers' minds throughout the season. For the first time, Heineken's full portfolio of cider brands, including Strongbow, Old Mout, Inch’s, and Bulmers, will be showcased together. The UK cider market, valued at £1.1 billion, sees £689 million from grocery and £384 million from convenience sales. Strongbow alone commands a 20% market share, making it the top cider brand in both volume and value. Rachel Holms, Cider Brand Director at Heineken UK, expressed enthusiasm about the campaign: “The diversity among the brands demonstrates how much opportunity there is for retailers to tap into – from classic apple ciders to exciting flavours, premium options, and even alcohol-free alternatives, available at various price points and in a full range of formats”. She further emphasised the importance of offering a full range of choices to attract cider drinkers who are often enticed by innovation and new flavours from their favourite brands. Holms also highlighted the need for retailers to consider various factors when refreshing their cider range, including flavour profile, brand heritage, sustainability credentials, formats, price points, premium levels, and alcohol by volume (ABV) strength. “By shining a light on the whole category, we want to spotlight the choices available and encourage retailers to explore their shoppers’ varying needs and demonstrate the breadth of choice available to help meet them”, she added. In other news, Heineken UK is set to relocate its Scottish office and company headquarters to 6 St Andrew Square in Edinburgh after 20 years at Broadway Park. The move is expected in the second quarter of 2025, pending planning and approvals. Boudewijn Haarsma, Managing Director of Heineken UK, commented on the relocation by stating: With a continued commitment to Scotland and to our home in Edinburgh, we were keen to find an office with an environment that really served our changing needs. 6 St Andrew Square is not only a fantastic, vibrant city-centre location but an attractive, modern, flexible working space which will inspire colleagues and wow visitors”. Heineken UK employs over 500 people in Scotland, primarily at its Edinburgh office, the company's largest site in the UK. This office supports a wide range of teams, including Customer Care, Services, Planning & Logistics, Finance, and HR, as well as Heineken’s Star Pubs business, which oversees over 2,400 pubs across the UK. 

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Have you seen our latest beer category report? The beer market is showing varied performance across its key sectors. Mainstream beer, the largest segment, is under notable pressure. However, craft beer is thriving, especially with the impressive contributions from Scottish breweries. Dive into the latest insights and trends in our detailed report here: https://bit.ly/3TUQS1k"

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Attention food & drink brands: are you tapping into the high fibre trend? 🥬🍎 Consumers are waking up to the health benefits of a high-fibre diet, with 61% actively trying to consume more fibre. However, many struggle to meet the recommended daily intake of 25-35g. This presents a huge opportunity for brands to reformulate products and boost their fibre content. From soda to snack bars, we're seeing more companies prioritise fibre in their offerings. However, promoting high-fibre products comes with challenges. Claims like "source of fibre" and "high in fibre" have specific requirements, and the type of fibre you incorporate matters too. Read our blog post on fibre trending in food (link in comments) for more on this subject. Need help formulating and marketing your high-fibre creations? Hooley Brown can support you every step of the way. #Fibre #HighFibre #FoodTrends #ProductInnovation #ProductClaims

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A lot has changed since 2022 but it remains that TikTok is STILL influencing the way we eat and drink 🍸🍱🥘 To get the full scope on 2024 Food & Drink trends and the implications for your brand, download the report here - https://lnkd.in/dU7tjymZ

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Unlocking the power of TGI: A classic case study The Target Group Index (TGI) has long been a cornerstone in strategic marketing, providing invaluable insights that drive remarkable results. This classic case study from 2008 highlights the transformative impact TGI can have on brand performance. “We have used it to increase the sale of beer by 29% per annum, to find a new point of retail distribution for a brand that now cannot keep up with demand in the retail outlet, and to isolate the affinity a target group had with a particular medium and therefore increase the brand's sales by a whopping 28%.” – Aubrey Malden, *Things The Brand Gurus Don’t Want You To Know*, 2008, p185 The results speak for themselves. TGI’s data-driven approach not only boosts sales but also helps brands discover new opportunities and effectively target their audience. #MarketResearch #TGI #BrandStrategy #SalesGrowth #MarketingInsights #AskAfrika

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What’s fuelling the day for Brits in the breakfast category? Divesh Parmar from Quaker Oats UK outlines the latest #trends and how to capitalise on them

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Last month we explored how consumer's love for sweet and savoury biscuits were on the up🍬 While innovation by brands into healthier biscuits is making headway, inflation is still having its effect, but 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 and volume are 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 📈 Get the low down by checking out 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://lnkd.in/eCxj4-sQ #CategoryReport #TheKnowledgeBank

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Thank you, Business Leader, for featuring the journey of Modern Milkman and what it's like to be an authentic CEO. Discover how we've turned our ideas into action and how humble beginnings can lead to big things. Read our story here https://lnkd.in/ejkxtD9V

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Welcome back to Battle of the Brands, where we we assess the strengths and weaknesses of leading brands in a specific category using our syndicated data. Today, we’re highlighting the lunch and snack kits category, pitting Sargento Balanced Breaks and Hillshire Snacking against one another in an intense showdown for top communication performance. When it comes to communication, we’ve discovered that successfully conveying key product attributes that drive purchase has an 88% correlation with in-market sales performance. Which lunch and snack kit, Sargento Balanced Breaks or Hillshire Snacking, has the most effective communication according to consumers? #designmeetdata #battleofthebrands #packagingdesign #packaging #analytics #cpg #visualdesign #redesign #brand #branding #branddesign #consumerinsights #marketresearch #datadriven #data Hillshire Brands

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Need some help with your Marketing Strategy? 🚀 Our Marketing Strategy Template is here 🚀 A step by step guide to getting your Marketing strategy off the ground, making it achievable, focussed and measurable. Enabling marketing teams to do better marketing. Download and Share with your pals👇 https://lnkd.in/eUJnasbu 🧡 #b2bmarketing #strategy #digitalmarketing

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✨“Even more vitamins to help you focus than we can fit on this trolley”🍓🛒 innocent drinks recent campaign in Morrisons stores highlights how they’ve become “even more innocent,” infusing even more vitamins into both their branding and their products.🍇🍌🍎 💡Since 82% of purchase decisions are made in store, trolley advertising allows brands to directly influence consumers at the point of sale, increasing the likelihood of impulse buys and reinforcing brand messaging right when shoppers are making their choices.💡🤩 🛒Trolley advertising planned by Morrisons Media Group and executed by Retail Media Group across our network of Morrisons stores. The Coca-Cola Company #RetailMedia #TrolleyMedia #RetailAdvertising #Innocent #Smoothie #EvenMoreInnocent #Instore #POS

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📊 Post-campaign research, conducted by Savanta, from the 2023 Petits Filous’ partnership with Channel 5's Milkshake! revealed some tasty results for Petits Filous, leading to the brand’s appetite for a second serving. Some of those results include:   +33% uplift in spontaneous brand awareness. +15% increase in purchase intent. +8% uplift in brand advocacy among viewers.   Discover why 100% of Milkshake! viewers perceived Petits Filous as a perfect fit, resulting in increased campaign cut-through, an improved brand image, and significantly higher consumer metrics.   Download the case study here: 👇 https://lnkd.in/eaJfzmTA   #kidscontent #sponsorship #tvadvertising #channel5

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SwiftCloud x The Drink Sector 🍷 🥤 🍻 Increasing customer basket spend and saving valuable time, here's how we're changing the game for B2B drinks companies.

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Latest on International Confectionery: Shaping a Sweet Success with BCH Ltd Stuart Grogan, Operations Director at BCH Ltd, discusses the company is shaping the future of confectionery production with flexible, efficient solutions... Could you explain how your technology has evolved to meet the changing demands of modern confectionery production? We are constantly evolving to keep in line with latest technological advancements. This includes working with leading international suppliers and growing industrial partnering relationships, particularly in the control and automation industry where a lot of the improvements in performance and efficiencies can be observed.  There is a particular growing demand from our clients requesting more connectivity, condition monitoring for preventative maintenance, remote assistance and simple device hot swapping. All of which form part of our latest portfolio of products to assist customers with their needs. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dKkQ8xit #Food #FoodProduction Jonathan Pittock

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Molson Coors to Invest £100m in UK Brewery and Beverage Network Molson Coors Beverage Company has unveiled ambitious plans to inject over £100 million into its UK brewery and beverage infrastructure over the next five years. This significant investment aims to enhance capabilities, increase efficiencies and support the company's growth in the UK market. Fraser Thomson, Chief Supply Chain Officer for Western Europe at Molson Coors, emphasised the strategic nature of this investment, by stating that: “This plan is an investment in our future, giving our people and brands the tools to fulfil our potential in the UK market while making strong progress against our sustainability targets". Key components of this investment include upgrading brewing capacity and packaging capabilities at Molson Coors' major UK facilities, notably the breweries in Burton-on-Trent and Tadcaster. The Burton brewery will benefit from a new 24-tonne high-speed can filler, capable of filling an impressive 120,000 cans per hour. Moreover, the packaging keg lines at Tadcaster and Aspall Cyder House will also undergo enhancements. Molson Coors is also directing resources towards Sharp's Brewery in Cornwall, supporting new and existing ale brands such as Doom Bar, Solar Wave Hazy and Twin Coast. This builds on previous investments, including a recent £13 million expansion at the Aspall Cyder House and a £21 million investment in a new canning line in Burton. Molson Coors' focus on upgrading its facilities reflects its commitment to meeting market demands and advancing sustainability goals. Furthermore, the company's growth in the UK market is highlighted by the success of its brands, particularly Madrí Excepcional. Thomson described Madrí Excepcional as “the country’s fastest-growing major beer brand in both volume and value sales” in late 2023, reinforcing the need for expanded brewing and packaging capacity. In sum, this substantial investment by Molson Coors is not only about modernising its infrastructure but also about empowering its workforce and ensuring environmental responsibility. Thomson added: “This is a landmark moment in our history as we evolve to meet the demands of our growing portfolio and bring new innovations in the years ahead, while continuing to reduce the impact our business has on the environment”.

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