Foods Connected NPD edit: May–August 2024 trends

With own labels winning over financially challenged consumers in recent times, brands are having to think outside the box to grab shoppers’ attention this summer season.    

There is a lot to be excited about in NPD this summer. With the supermarkets’ own brands sales surging, brands have had to do something interesting to stand out in the busy grocery space.  

Big brands are trying to show they are listening. They have brought back some old consumer favourites and tapped into social media trends to inform new product development. Elsewhere, challenger brands are bypassing supermarkets altogether to connect with consumers. The other order of the day is experimentation, with Wallace & Gromit wensleydale crisps and non-alcoholic breakfast beers, making consumers smile - but only time will tell if that warmth will lead to consumer spending.   

Consumer-led launches 

It’s a season where brands are showing they are listening. Fan favourites such as the Caramac and Cadbury’s Top Deck have returned to shelves for a limited run. Tesco has lent into the cultural picky tea trend with its summer range and TikTok’s #buttertok hashtag has opened up a new supermarket category in the UK. Hellmann’s has even renamed its vegan mayo to connect with the flexitarian customer.

The rise of the premium own label 

Recognising a consumer appetite for quality products at lower prices, UK supermarkets have invested big in their premium lines this season.  

According to Kantar, spend on premium own label grew 12% in the year to 9 June compared with the previous 12 months, almost double total own label (6.9%).  

No wonder then Waitrose has launched 130 new lines under its premium No.1 Waitrose & Partners label.  Asda has introduced Exceptional, a new line with over 500 products. Marks & Spencer has added 15 new spirits in an own-brand refresh and Tesco has doubled down on outside eating with a new Finest summer food range. 

Celebrity collabs continue 

The perpetual wave of celebrity launches shows no sign of slowing down. Margot Robbie introduced her premium gin Papa Salt to the UK (Harvey Nichols specifically). Now available in three markets - the UK, Australia and New Zealand – the drink has strong sustainability credentials - made in a zero-waste distillery powered by renewable energy – and taps into the actress’ Australian heritage with botanicals of wattleseed, wax flower, and oyster shell.  

Tyson Fury continues his foray into the UK food space with the launch of a caffeine energy gum to his Furocity brand. Exclusively available in Iceland, it joins his energy drink and protein product line-up.  

Plus, after success in the US, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre have brought Gin & Juice to the UK RTD market. The 5.9% abv ready-to-drink cocktails come in four flavours citrus, melon, passionfruit and apricot.  

The free-from market gathers pace 

In the US gluten-free was the order of the day, while in the UK no-HFSS drove free-from NPD. Major UK brands like McVitie’s and Walkers showed their commitment to offering HFSS-compliant options in an area the UK government is slowly regulating. The biscuit brand has introduced Rich Tea The Cocoa One, the second HFSS-compliant biscuit in its range. While Walkers has debuted a sub brand – Yummy With – for its Wotsits and Monster Munch lines, with bags equating to just under 100 calories of energy.  

Over in the US, the gluten-free was seen alongside a range of other free-from descriptors. Non-GMO verified, kosher, palm-oil free and free from key allergens all feature on a range of new products, showing the influence of consumer needs and demands in the marketplace. Mightylicious has introduced a range of gluten-free flour blends and a vegan chocolate brownie mix. Seed + Mill has added a vegan chocolate sesame sauce to its line of squeezable sesame-based tahinis designed for ice-creams and much more. While in the breakfast category, Brekki grew its range of ready-to-eat, plant-based non-GMO and gluten-free oats, with new flavours in choco coconut and lemon. 

New paths to consumers 

Brands - both challenger and established – have continued to look for fresh routes to connect consumers with their new product launches. Start-ups like Bone broth brand Freja in the UK and Juice Generation in the US are reaching out directly to consumer with their innovations. Freja’s is a range of bone broth shakes, which promises “a convenient new way to enjoy the nutritional benefits of bone broth” in raw cacao, vanilla bean, wild strawberry, and unflavoured. While the New York juice bar has opened up a new category claiming the launch of the dairy-free Juiced Gelato as the “first-ever cold pressed gelato”. 

Other routes to market include established brands Britvic and Muller using an incubator programme at Iceland, challengers harnessing consumer interaction, with Heck sausages running a competition aimed at school children to select a new flavour. And small fruit delivery brand Berrymakers shipping berries straight to UK consumers in small batches. 

Dairy gets the TikTok treatment 

What started with a butter trend on the popular social media platform - and its own hashtag Buttertok - has now infiltrated NPD. 

Kerry Gold embraced the revitalised market attention and launched two new butter sticks in Salted and Garlic & Herb flavours.  

Morrisons went retro by refreshing its butter packaging to celebrate the brands 125th anniversary and its origins as an egg and butter market stall. 

All Things Butter claimed it was launching a new supermarket category in the UK with its Cinammon Bun flavoured butter. Pioneered by Bake Off finalist Ruby Bhogal, it secured listings in Sainsbury’s, Asda, Ocado, and Planet Organic. 

Flavoured butters are a more familiar supermarket product in the US, and Miyoko took the trend one step further by launching two dairy-free oat milk versions there in Garlic Parm and Cinnamon Brown Sugar flavour.  

Out of the box thinking 

Hoplark breakfast beer, Coffee-flavoured Doritos and Campfire S’mores flavoured cup noodle are possibly the most unlikely launches of the season. Unsurprisingly, two out of three are aimed at the Australian market, where consumers seem to be open to experimentation. All three are either limited edition or a brand giveaway to test consumer tastes.  

Summer NPD takeaways 

Brands are doubling down on the learnings we identified at the end of Q1. 

• They are listening  – cultural conversations and allergen concerns are informing NPD 
  
  
• They are being brave – not just in their new product decisions, but also in how they communicate with shoppers 
  
  
• But they need to continue to innovate - this will help them compete with the rise of premium own brand products 

Want to learn more about planning your NPD strategy and the consumer behaviours that are influencing it in? Then check out our report on the subject...