Buttering them up

A range full of favourites stops the spreads sales going down

WITH 99% of households buying into the category each year, there’s hardly a range that offers more opportunity to pick up top-up or distress sales than butter and spreads.

And that opportunity has been enhanced, according to Unilever’s Partners for Growth programme, which points to an uptick in families returning to the packed lunch as they become more considerate of their finances.

To take advantage of this, Unilever PfG has laid out some advice for retailers it believes should pay off at the chiller.

The Partners for Growth programme suggests that retailers stick to a tight range of butters and spreads that includes the most popular brands and formats, group relevant products together – butter, buttery spreads, healthy spreads, etc – and make use of POS materials to pick up sales from shoppers browsing for other items.

Nick Widdowson, merchandising and creative controller for Unilever PfG, said: “Butters and spreads are a kitchen essential, with a high proportion of ‘need it now’ purchases where consumers have run out and need to stock up quickly for packed lunches or baking.
“And 93% of shoppers already know what brand of butter or margarine they want before they set foot inside a store.”

Widdowson added that a sluggish economy has also driven many consumers to return to homemade foods, creating an extra opportunity for retailers.
“The economic downturn has also driven a return to homemade foods. The fastest areas of growth in homemade baking are cupcakes, birthday cakes and brownies,” he said.

“Convenience retailers should ensure they can capitalise on this by stocking baking spreads. They can also prompt impulse baking sessions with signage at the spreads fixture and displaying items such as cake decorations.”