Wimbledon fails to whip dairy shoppers into a frenzy

Cream has seen the biggest relative drop off of the dairy sectors, with growth down £2.4m

The latest dairy market update, covering the 12 weeks to 14 July, finds the market growing at 0.6%, a notable downturn in performance compared with the 1.1% growth over the previous 12 weeks. Over the same period, overall supermarket sales declined by 0.5%, as the market suffered in comparison with a very strong performance last summer.  That said, volume growth in the sector has improved slightly from 1.5% to 1.6%.

This slowdown is evident across the majority of dairy sectors, with only eggs, butter and lards and compounds seeing an improvement in growth over the 12 weeks. Commenting on the findings, Oliver Bluring, Client Manager, said: “The biggest downturn is in the yoghurt sector which has gone from contributing £4.2m of growth to losing £2.45m. However, factoring in market size, cream has seen the biggest relative drop off. Growth is down by £2.4m, at what is usually a key time for the sector, as Wimbledon whips consumers into a frenzy for strawberries and cream.”

Almost all retailers contribute to the downturn, with only Tesco and Asda seeing a slight improvement in performance. Morrisons and Aldi struggle the most, with Morrisons’ growth declining by an additional £3.6m compared with the previous 12 weeks, and Aldi’s growth falling back by £3.35m. This dynamic is replicated in the cream sector, though here Asda suffer the most, with the biggest downturn in contribution to the growth of the sector - over £600,000.

In terms of shopper demographics, only young and middle families show a stronger performance than last period. The contribution of C2DE shoppers has also worsened by almost £12m. For cream the downturn is more consistent across demographics, though there’s a small improvement from older families.

Across both the dairy market and cream specifically, full price sales have driven the fall back in growth, resulting in a reduction of £15.2m in dairy overall and £2.5m in cream. For both markets, temporary price reduction (TPR) promotions have helped to stem declines in growth, and sales through Y for £X promotions mechanism have worsened.