Always Coca Cola as brand is top of the list

Coke is still it, at least as far as Irish consumers are concerned as a new list of the best-selling brands in the country shows Coca Cola is the most popular.

The Checkout Top 100 Brands report shows that Coca Cola has stayed at number one for the ninth year in a row, ahead of Avonmore Milk in second place and Brennan’s bread in third, while the horsemeat controversy has resulted in a fall in the sale of frozen meat ready-meals.

The top 10 is completed by Lucozade in fourth, Cadbury Dairy Milk in fifth position, knocking Tayto down one place to sixth, while 7Up, appropriately enough, is in seventh place, ahead of Jacobs, Walkers, and Danone.

The latest list, produced by Checkout magazine in association with Nielsen, shows that Budweiser is still the country’s most popular off-trade alcohol brand, while Blossom Hill is the top-selling wine brand and Smirnoff is the top spirit. As for tobacco, Silk Cut retains position as Ireland’s leading cigarette brand.

While much of the top 10 is made up of hardy perennials, further down the Top 100 Brands report shows some more dramatic movement. For example, Innocent juices rose 23 places since last year to 30th position, just one place behind Tropicana, while Pringles rose 11 places to 34th.

Galtee sliced meat climbed 42 places to 81st, while Cully & Sully has entered the top 100 in 91st place.

Other well-known inclusions are Dairygold in 19th place, Pampers in 11th place, and Andrex in 72nd position.

Some brands have seen their positions slip in the past year, including Red Bull, Johnston Mooney & O’Brien, and Kit Kat.

The brand list also charts the biggest selling grocery categories, with confectionery taking top slot, ahead of milk in second place followed by bakery products. Fizzy drinks are in fourth and biscuits in fifth.

Other categories in the top 10 are crisps/snacks/ tubes, prepacked sliced meat, cheese, yoghurt/fromage frais/yoghurt drinks, and fruit juice.

However, the frozen ready-meals (meat) category has dropped 11 places to become the 89th biggest selling grocery category, with the fall linked to the horsemeat issue. Chilled prepared poultry also saw a fall in its position.

A number of buyer trends have emerged, with Nielsen estimating that 47.3% of sales in the milk category are own-brand. Editor of Checkout, Stephen Wynne- Jones, said consumers were now shopping around more than ever before.

Nielsen commercial director Maureen Mooney said: “The brands that have been most successful are the ones that have continued to maintain spend, but have also combined that with promotions, new product development and in-store engagement.

“There’s no set formula: Some brands are doing a bit of everything in order to come out as a winner; others rely on word of mouth and product quality to gain a foothold.”

However, she said it was not simply a case of price. “Premium products are selling very well in certain categories,” she said. “For example, the yoghurt category is actually declining, but luxury yoghurt is growing by 9%.

“One trend that we’ve noticed recently is a rise in what we call ‘pre-planned impulse’, where instead of a consumer buying an impulse product, they’re buying the multipack because they perceive it to be a lot better value.”

* See the full list online at www.checkout.ie