Britons fall out of love with tinned favourite
BRITONS are falling out of love with baked beans with sales of the traditional family favourite plummeting by £50million.
Shoppers have been turning away from Heinz’s iconic canned beans and soups over the past year, a new report claims.
The trend suggests families have been opting for less hot food because of the mild winter.
Trade magazine The Grocer said sales for HJ Heinz Foods UK have dropped 6.4 per cent in the year to January with beans and soup sales the main casualties.
Competitive
The magazine says that UK sales dropped from £904.8million in the 52 weeks to 28 December 2014 to £846.7million last year.
Accounts show bean volumes were hit by a lack of promotions and falling prices, while soup sales were down six per cent following a mild winter and strong competition.
Heinz said: “The UK marketplace continues to remain an extremely competitive and changing landscape.
“Reductions in wages and the continuation of recessionary habits, alongside the expansion of discounters, continue to require changes in strategy.”
The company said a key plank of this changed strategy is to expand its product range away from the core category products. Heinz said it had seen strong growth in categories such as bean meals, flavoured beans and reduced salt and sugar beans, while its newly launched dry soup “performed well”, increasing market share to 14.5per cent in the fourth quarter.
The Grocer said that in contrast, Heinz reported strong sales in sauces and condiments, which were up two per cent in the year.
The flagship Heinz Tomato Ketchup was up 6per cent while Heinz also highlighted the performance of Barbecue Sauce, Lea & Perrins and HP Sauce on the back of marketing and in-store campaigns. HOTEL guests are having to fork out up to £30 for a “full English” breakfast, a survey has found.
The most expensive city fry-up is at The May Fair Hotel in central London at £29.50 although the average in the capital is £15.82, followed by Liverpool at £13.81.
Hotels in Bristol offer the best value with a cooked breakfast at £10.44.
Chris Reilly, of myvouchercodes, said: “Liverpool is cheapest on both wine and beer.
“This could explain why hotels there are capitalising on sore heads in the morning.”