Come shop with me... TV alters our top brands

TV DINNERS are invading our shopping baskets – but not of the dreaded microwave variety.

Cooking shows such as Come Dine With Me are inspiring Irish shoppers to purchase a variety of stocks, gravy mixes and baking products according to a food brand survey.

And while the popularity of top products like Coca-Cola, Avonmore milk, Brennan’s bread, and Tayto endures, the Top 100 Brands 2012 shows old favourite Denny is no longer on the pig’s back with sales of its meat products slipping.

Another surprise mover is the rise of granny’s favourite Flahavan’s. New products like Portable Pots have cleverly changed the brand’s appeal said the editor of Checkout magazine.

In a change to our previous love of eating out, sales of stock and gravy mixes are rising. Baking products also make the list for the first time.

This is the eighth year the magazine has carried out this survey, and Mr Stephen Wynne-Jones said supermarkets’ own brands are on the rise but some evergreen brands are still doing the business.

‘People can be swayed by price but there is familiarity which is very important. You know what you’re getting with a bottle of Ballygowan, but the loyalty is not what it used to be,’ he said yesterday.

Mr Wynne- Jones said sales of frozen foods under own-brand labels have risen 3 per cent to 36 per cent of the overall market as families try to mind their budgets. This is bad news for companies like Donegal Catch or Birds Eye.

Denny is another famous brand that is suffering with sausages, sliced meat and bacon all sliding down the list and out of baskets.

Its sliced meats range has fallen out of the top ten of favourite brands into 13th place, while its bacon is down six places to 47th place and its sausages down 12 places to 54th.

But it seems there really is no such thing as bad publicity for

‘We need our comforts’

Hunky Dory crisps – the brand made headlines with adverts showing scantily- clad women playing Gaelic football but sales are rising.

In the alcohol category – off-licence sales only – Budweiser beer tops the list with Smirnoff and Heineken close behind. The American beer company has targeted our pockets with cans on offer in some supermarkets at €1 each, and it appears to be working.

Only one wine features in the top ten alcohol brands – Blossom Hill – but old favourites like Bulmers cider, Guinness and Jameson take top ten places.

A hugely successful liquor is Jamaican rum Captain Morgan which has jumped from zero to 20th on the list of top 50 alcohol brands.

Research company MCCP has found some brands just have an connection that reaches past any worries we might have about cost.

‘Some goods provide an emotional reassurance to consumers. Being cheap is no longer enough of a reason to buy something,’ said MCCP’s Jill Byrne.

‘The heritage of a company like Cadbury’s is important for people, that’s something an own-brand chocolate wouldn’t have. We need our comforts and treats.’