Irish Brands Hold Their Own In Checkout Top 100 Brands, In Association With Nielsen

Coca-Cola Named As Ireland’s Biggest Selling Brand For 14^th Year In A Row

Ireland’s biggest brands are putting it up to their international counterparts in the latest edition of the Checkout Top 100 Brands, produced by Checkout magazine in association with Nielsen.

While Coca-Cola continues to lead the Top 100, occupying number one position for the fourteenth year in a row, Brennans bread (3^rd), Avonmore (4th), and Tayto (5^th) all make the top five, indicating the level of loyalty that consumers have to Ireland’s biggest household names.

Other Irish brands making headway in this year’s list include health-bar brand Fulfil, which climbs from 68^th place in 2017 to 49^th this year.

Crisp brand O’Donnells soars 19 places from last year to 77^th.

Keogh’s Crisps is another popular Irish brand and it is one of three new entries to our rankings this year, joining the Top 100 in the 96^th position. Since 2012, the Keogh family has seen their crisps gain a strong share of the overall crisp and snack market, which is quite a feat for a small farm producer. The Keogh’s Farm crisps business has been growing by double digit figures annually, making it the fastest growing and only Irish-owned crisp brand in an extremely competitive market that features dominant international players.

“What we are seeing in this year’s Top 100 Brands ranking is an overall trend of steady growth for many FMCG brands, and some significant growth for others,” says Maev Martin, editor, Checkout magazine. “26 brands have scored an all-time high in 2018’s rankings, and a number of Irish brands are featured in this select group.

“Brands achieving their best position to date include Ballygowan, Dairygold, Kinder, Hunky Dorys, Keeling’s, Aptamil, Glenisk, innocent, Lindt, Magnum, Monster, Brady Family, Pepsi, Flahavan’s, Fulfil, Cully & Sully, MiWadi, Panadol, Ben & Jerry’s, Cadbury Wispa, O’Donnell’s, Clonakilty, Green Isle, Keogh’s, Cushelle, and Nature Valley.”

 The Checkout Top 100 Brands is based on branded value sales across the Irish grocery sector, making it the most accurate barometer of the biggest selling brands in the marketplace. In compiling the report, Nielsen measures the sales performance of over 6,500 brands from over 200 product classes.

“The relative stability of the Top 100 Brands’ top-ten membership indicates that well-established and home-made brands are holding their own in the Irish market,” says Maev Martin. “Despite the continued rise of private label, and legislative changes in relation to packaging and the recent sugar tax, Ireland’s best-known and loved brands continue to innovate and thrive.”

 Big Movers

One of the biggest movers in this year’s Top 100 Brands report is innocent drinks, which ranked 39^th in 2017 but soars to a new personal best of 28^th this year. Elsewhere, chocolate brand Lindt, which only made its debut in the rankings last year, continues its high scoring, improving on last year’s 40^th-place ranking by moving up to 31^st place. The biggest mover this year, however, is energy drink Monster, which entered the Top 100 Brands last year, claiming the 64^th place position. This year it performs an equally impressive feat, vaulting to the 38^th position in the rankings.

"There is good news for brands in 2018,” says Claire Cullen, Head of Analytics, Nielsen Ireland. “The strong economic performance, healthy labour market and positive consumer confidence has led to an easing of pressure on household budgets, boosting brand sales. Performing ahead of private label across all channels, exciting new opportunities are emerging, as shopper behaviour and needs change. 

“To succeed in this dynamic market place, brands will need to listen to and address these changing consumer needs, in order to ensure continued growth into 2019."

Focusing on other Irish brands that have made a big impact in the rankings, Cully & Sully springs upward again this year from 56th in 2017 to the number 50 spot. Clonakilty ranks 80th this year, a positive improvement of six places on last year’s ranking.

One of the most impressive surges in the rankings this year, Hunky Dorys vaults from 23rd in the Checkout Top 100 Brands 2017 to 16th this year, a step up of seven places.

In the Tea category, Barry’s Tea cements its position as Ireland’s best-selling brand, ranking 21^st, while rival Lyons, part of the Unilever stable, places 30^th. The two brands were neck and neck (Lyons 24^th, Barry’s 25^th) as recently as 2015.

Alcohol Brands

Heineken leads the way in the Top 50 Alcohol brands list, for the fifth year in a row, while Santa Rita is Ireland’s biggest selling wine, topping the Top 20 Wines list. Smirnoff leads the Top 20 Spirits list, while Heineken is Ireland’s top selling beer, leading the Top 20 LADs list.

One of the most noteworthy developments on our Top 50 Alcohol list this year is the entry of E&J Gallo’s Barefoot brand at number 41. Peroni’s Nastro Azzurro is another newcomer to our Top 50 rankings this year, joining the list in the number 47 position.

Category Leaders

As well as measuring the biggest selling brands in the marketplace, the report also gives details of the biggest selling grocery categories, with Confectionery leading the Top 100 Categories list, followed by Crisps, Snacks and Tubes, and then Carbonated Soft Drinks, Biscuits, and Bakery, each tying for third place, with five brands apiece.

“However, while the ‘old reliables’ are still the big winners with Irish consumers, this year’s rankings reveal that the movement towards healthier eating habits continues,” says Maev Martin.

“This is evident in the rising popularity of products in categories such as Pre-Packed Fresh Berries, which jumps six places this year to the 13^th spot, Granola Bars, which moves up two places to 44^th, with the leading brand in this category cracking the Top 100, and Special Dietary Products, which moves up four places from 2017. The increasing demand for natural ingredients among Irish consumers is reflected in the emergence of a new category in our Top 100 this year – Meat and Vegetable Extracts.

“The Frozen Prepared Vegetable Products category is one that is valued by vegetarians and vegans, whose diets align well with current healthy-eating trends. Having only entered the Top 100 last year, at 99th, the category makes an impressive advance in 2018, now ranking 93^rd.”

When it comes to Irish brands that have made a big impact in their categories, in Pre-Packed Sliced Meat, Brady Family ousts Denny from the top spot to become category leader, while in the Canned Fish category, Irish brand Shines leaps straight to third position, pushing Picnic and Epicure down to the fourth and fifth spots.

Frozen Chips is a category containing another break-out star among young Irish companies. Strong Roots, which ranks third this year, markets itself as a healthy type of frozen food and is definitely one to watch. It also makes a bold play for the number-one position in the Frozen Prepared Vegetable Products category, claiming second place.

Checkout Top 100 Brands 2018*:The Top 10

1. Coca-Cola
2. Cadbury Dairy Milk
3. Brennans
4. Avonmore
5. Tayto
6. Lucozade
7. 7UP
8. Extra
9. Jacobs
10. Red Bull
11. Goodfella’s
12. Ballygowan
13. Dairygold
14. Nescafe
15. Kinder
16. Hunky Dorys
17. Pat the Baker
18. Pringles
19. Club Orange
20. Irish Pride

* Produced in association with Nielsen

The Checkout Top 100 Brands lists the Top 100 selling brands in Ireland (Value Sales) through mainstream grocery outlets and is produced in association with Nielsen. For the purposes of the listings, a ‘brand’ is defined as every product falling under a brand banner within a specific product class. No Private Label products are included.