UK sales of summer related food and drink products – such as ice cream and cider – are thriving, according to the Office for National Statistics recently released UK Manufacturers Sales by Product Survey (PRODCOM), 2014 Provisional Results.
Beer was eighth in the top ten products in terms of UK manufacturers sales value. The rapid growth of smaller scale brewing and craft production in recent times is likely to have played a role in this; following a period of decline between 2009 and 2012, sales increased for a second year, to a value of £3.4 billion in 2014.
UK manufacturers sales of cider have also increased – by 58.8 per cent since 2010, to £911.2 million in 2014. As we reported last month, the cider category has gone a long way to discard its old fashioned image and connect with a new wave of consumers, with a raft of packaging and flavour innovations introduced to inject excitement into the category. Kopparbergs frozen fruit cider launched earlier this year is a particular favourite of mine!
The domestic sparkling wine industry has also shown strong growth (105.1 per cent) with sales of £6 million in 2014, more than double the 2010 figure of £2.9 million. Our love of sparkling wine was highlighted this year with reports of a feared global shortage of prosecco due to high demand versus 2014s poor grape harvest.
UK manufacturers sales of ice cream, lollipops and other edible ice products also grew for the third consecutive year. In 2014, product sales were valued at £722.8 million, up £88.6 million since 2013 and £157.3 million since 2011 – a growth of 14 per cent and 27.8 per cent respectively.
Soft drinks and flavoured waters were sixth in the top ten products in terms of UK manufacturers sales value, with growth of almost £200 million (5.7 per cent) in 2014 to £3.6 billion. It will be interesting to see what effect – if any – the SACNs recent recommendation that the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages should be minimised by both children and adults has on next years figures.