Commodities Roundup: April 2013

Rising futures was the theme for April, with Chicago wheat futures rising by eight percent due to weak exports from Russia. London Cocoa futures also rose in April, up five percent due to supply concerns from Indonesia, where rain is delaying the ongoing harvest. In a large surge, Fonterra skim milk powder increased by 27 percent.. Dry weather in New Zealand is forcing farmers to turn to expensive grain to feed cattle as opposed to grass, driving prices up.
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For the Sake of Public Health, Let’s Not Give Up on Reduced Sugar

Analyst Insight by Simone Baroke, Contributing Analyst, Euromonitor International

A new study makes the point that reducing sugar intake is valuable in the global battle against obesity. Reduced-sugar packaged foods and drinks, however, are delivering a mixed performance. While reduced-sugar soft drinks have a high penetration in developed markets, they lag behind in emerging economies, and reduced-sugar packaged foods are delivering moderate growth at best. So, where do we go from here?

Hear Us Speak at SNACKEX 2013

Date: 12 and 13 June 2013
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Presentation day and time: 12 June at 14.30 (Sweden Time)

In his presentation,  Lamine Lahouasnia, Head of Packaged Food Research at Euromonitor International, will provide a strategic insight and analysis on how retailer own brands are developing and what manufacturers are doing to keep one step ahead of private labels.

Organised by the European Snacks Association (ESA), SNACKEX is the only 100% focused savoury snacks and snack nut event in Europe which unites the savoury snack industry in a single-destination tradeshow and conference, serving as the pre-eminent business meeting place for the industry. 

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@SNACKEX
@Euromonitor
@LLahouasnia

Cocoa Flavanol Health Claim Unlikely to Revolutionise the Chocolate Industry

Analyst Insight by Lauren Bandy, Analyst - Ingredients, Euromonitor International

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Cocoa has been associated with health benefits since the Mayans and Aztecs discovered the value of the commodity hundreds of years ago. More recently, and somewhat more officially, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved an Article 13(5) health claim for Barry Callebaut’s ACTICOA cocoa flavanols in July 2012, the first such claim in the EU. It reads, “cocoa flavanols help maintain endothelium-dependent vasodilation, which contributes to normal blood flow”, although a draft reword reads “maintenance of the elasticity of blood vessels”. This amount of cocoa flavanols can be provided by 2.5g of high-flavanol cocoa powder or 10g of high-flavanol dark chocolate in the context of a balanced diet. However, despite gaining approval, it seems unlikely that this health claim is set to revolutionise the European chocolate industry where country of origin and sustainable sourcing are much more significant trends for cocoa ingredients.

ANTAD RECAP

Analyst Insight por Ana Trulin, Analista de Investigación - Mexico en Euromonitor International

Del 13 al 17 de junio se llevó a cabo a la Expo ANTAD en la ciudad de Guadalajara, Jalisco, México. Como antecedente, ANTAD (Asociación Nacional de Tiendas de Autoservicio y Departamentales) es una de las Asociaciones más grandes del país, representando en 2011 el 3.2% del PIB mexicano.

A “ojo de buen cubero”, el piso de exposición superaba en tamaño a muchas de las expos más grandes que se hacen en el DF como por ejemplo Franquicias, Alimentaria, y Food Technology Summit.  La gente estaba aglomerada en el piso de exposición así como en el área designada para conferencias y muy sorprendente fue que se notaba que mucha gente estaba realmente haciendo negocios.

Food Manufacturers See Benefits in Supplying Aldi and BIM

Analyst Insight by Raphael Moreau, Analyst - Retailing, Euromonitor International

With its aggressive expansion in Australia, the discounter chain Aldi is increasingly challenging the country’s two dominant grocery retailers, Woolworths and Wesfarmers. In Turkey, the discounter BIM Birlesik Magazacilik (BIM) is also expanding rapidly and gaining ground on supermarket and hypermarket operators, notably Migros Türk, Carrefour and Tesco. With a business model similar to Aldi, BIM became the largest grocery retailer in Turkey in 2010 and has since outperformed its main rivals.

In addition to challenging the dominance of supermarkets, the strong expansion of a major discounter chain in both Australia and Turkey is also fuelling greater acceptance of private label among consumers and providing growth opportunities for private label suppliers.

Commodities Roundup: March 2013

Strong imports from Middle Eastern countries and demand for corn-based ethanol drove up wheat prices and corn prices in March. In this podcast, Francisco Redruello, senior foods analyst at Euromonitor, gives his monthly roundup of agricultural commodities, including cocoa, sugar and skim milk powder.

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Easter Presents a Sweet Opportunity for Chocolate Brands

Analyst Insight by Francisco Redruello, Senior Analyst - Food, Euromonitor International

The Easter season represents a significant opportunity for chocolate manufacturers in countries of Christian tradition, specifically in Europe and the Americas. Family gatherings during the festive season typically include the consumption of seasonal chocolate in which the Easter egg and seasonally-themed chocolate boxed assortments are the prime confectionery formats.

Easter: A chance for brands to be reborn

Easter-themed chocolate offers an important opportunity to manufacturers for two reasons. The additional seasonal promotional activity encourages consumers to buy more chocolate as many of the products are positioned as limited edition and/or novelties. The highest consumption of seasonal chocolate occurs in Western Europe where the category accounted for 11% of total chocolate confectionery retail volume in 2012. However, the maturity of the category has meant that it is only likely to grow by 4% over the 2012-2017 period. This sluggish growth is not specifically for Easter but other seasonal occasions such as Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day which have all been fully commercialised in Western Europe. Evidence of this can be seen by comparing Western Europe’s high per capita consumption of 0.6kg against other Christian regions such as Eastern Europe, which only consumed 0.1kg.

Recent Developments for Stevia in 2013

More food and drink products that include the natural sweetener stevia hit the stores in 2013, including a reformulated version of Sprite in the UK and in France. The new stevia sweetened Sprite lowers the calorie content, but the reformulated version will not yet reach the US, where consumers are not as quick to accept stevia based products due to its slightly bitter aftertaste. Although new drink products seem to benefit the most from stevia, food releases such as yogurt and jam are also beginning to use the sweetener.

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Explore our global briefing on stevia
Related podcast - Stevia: Successful in 2012

Coffee Pod Markets in Western Europe

Coffee pods continue to be the fastest growing coffee category in Western Europe, with pods accounting for over 50% of all fresh coffee retail sales in France, Spain and Portugal. While pods are often an example of growing premiumisation in many markets, the rise of them in Spain and Portugal is actually indicative of the economic crises across the region. As income levels of many consumers decline, many are having breakfast at home rather than in cafes; thus pods and pod machines continue growth. Meanwhile, markets such as Germany and Italy continue to post solid values across all fresh coffee categories. But there is opportunity in the Nordic nations where per capita coffee consumption is some of the highest in the world, but consumers have yet to fully embrace the single serve pod format.