With mission-shopping trending firmly among progressive store layouts, the breakfast mission has steadily grown in importance across the Scottish local retailing market. SLR’s breakfast guide offers an insight into what you need to know about this vital sales opportunity.
by Émer O’Toole
Breakfast sales cover a wide range of categories – cereals, bread & bakery, drinks such as juice, tea and milk, and food-to-go – making it crucial to get right. Retailers must make key decisions to maximise this growing trend for food on the move.
It is vital that the 25 top-selling cereal brands are always stocked in store. The best way to utilise space on smaller plans is by avoiding product duplication (double facings, size variants etc). For larger plans, availability and breadth of range is the next focus; top brands deserve double facings and retailers should look to stock further products that will meet different shopper missions and needs. Don’t forget about porridge. John Kerr, director of The JFK Partnership (responsible for Hamlyns sales), says: “The health benefits of porridge continue to be hailed in the media and amongst many influential food bloggers. Porridge is seen as a low-cost, high-benefit breakfast, offering the best value-for-money per serving across the range of breakfast cereal options.”
Joanne Denney-Finch from IGD says: “Shoppers are beginning to adopt food-to-go as a lifestyle choice which presents a clear opportunity for these operators, and coffee specialists are responding to this by focusing more on food and improved lunchtime options.” Cereal bars are consumed for a different occasion to cereal. It is therefore recommended they sit outside of the cereal aisle, possibly at the front of store where they can be picked up on the go. With cereal bars, the majority of consumption happens at snack times, rather than at breakfast. belVita Breakfast is available in convenient single packs, in several variants: belVita Strawberry Duo Crunch, belVita Honey & Nut, belVita Crunchy Hazelnut and new Soft Bakes Choc Chip, which is available in single portion PMP and non-PMP formats.
Bakery is worth £3bn, according to Nielsen, and is a key driver for footfall and growth. It is one of the few categories that truly drives traffic into store. Research by him! suggests it is the number one reason why people visit convenience stores. As one of the few categories that can make a difference to grocery performance, retailers should carefully consider how they present this popular category. Bread is the biggest seller in the category, and 68% of all toast occasions are eaten at breakfast, according to Kantar research. While providing fuel for the day, toast has the added benefit of being quick and easy to prepare and also to clear up.
As consumer shopping habits are changing to the ‘little and often’ model, convenience stores are best placed to maximise breakfast sales opportunities by stocking and showcasing a wide range of breakfast options.
Pancakes love Nutella
The Pancakes Love Nutella campaign is back in time for Pancake Day, which this year falls on 28 February.
Levi Boorer, customer development director at Ferrero says: “The rise of shoppers turning their hand to homemade products is more prevalent than ever and cross-category displays can help drive basket spend by providing all the ingredients for a perfect pancake.”
Retailers should display popular pancake ingredients together, such as flour, eggs and milk, alongside a range of popular toppings such as Nutella.
