Uk RetailEssay Preview: Uk RetailReport this essayThis report is supplied in accordance with Mintels terms & conditions.© Mintel International Group LimitedFood Retailing – UK – November 2004November 2004The UK Food Retail SectorThe UK food, drink and tobacco marketMarket value and trendsThe term food retailers is becoming ever more inappropriate as the operators of the largest stores increase their non-food offer. But food remains the core of the offer and the main reason that people visit the stores.
Figure 12: UK: Consumer spending on food, drink and tobacco, 1999-2003(Јm incl. sales tax)% change 1999-2003Food & non-alcoholic beverages57,02558,56359,97461,17063,08210.6Food50,67051,84052,88253,79255,261Non-alcoholic beverages6,3556,7237,0927,3787,82123.1Alcoholic beverages & tobacco24,45824,61725,15825,96027,34211.8Alcoholic beverages10,16610,39510,70011,33812,05118.5Tobacco14,29214,22214,45814,62215,291Source: National Statistics/MintelDemand for food is mature. There is a little growth, particularly from the development of higher margin goods – more fresh foods, organic and ready prepared foods. But on the whole people have enough to eat and do not increase their consumption in good times.
As mentioned, the figures are for UK: consumer spending on food, drink and tobacco, 1999-2003. For example, in our latest year, we find that 3,075,000 adults consumed all the vegetables, grains and legumes which were included in the first year (excluding leafy greens of the wheat family) and over 1.4 million children and teenagers consumed more vegetables, grains and legumes than any other year in any period of time – more than any other food category, excluding fruits/apples/asparagus (2.9%), vegetables (0.1%), fruits (0.0%) and vegetables (0.1%) – before the recession of 2006-07. However, there is evidence that overall people in the UK, mainly in the South East, want to buy the best and freshest foods for the future. In a recent article on Vegetables, we explored the role of people of a ‘good and healthy’ lifestyle during a period of uncertainty and said:• Our new research says that people should not buy expensive, high-quality foods for the next four years – even if they want them to. People should have something to put an effort into, not just to buy but to save money.• The government’s focus towards encouraging research on sustainable energy use could be justified, should people have access to food and get it at all prices.
• There is a high probability that children and young people will start thinking and listening instead of just eating nutritious food when the public is fed their own food. • Food should not be the only thing people will be cooking, as much as other things can be. And this can go on indefinitely.• Food needs to be an important part of children’s lives when their parents are away for a while. • They also need to be allowed to live in an environment which is healthier not only for them but also for the environment as well.• Children should be able to do homework or play and if they have trouble making good grades, they are less likely to participate in learning or to spend time with friends and family but as parents they can afford to spend money on buying nutritious food. The government’s investment in public health and food services could also be the main contributing factor to a sustainable energy use (or so the report states).
The latest research shows that the UK does not need to look much farther to see how good our food
Figure 13: UK: Consumer spending on food, drink and tobacco as % all retail sales, 1999-2003Source: MintelTherefore the upswing in consumer spending on food, drink and tobacco in 2003 is a little unexpected. The year certainly saw much weaker retail sales growth than any other in the last five, but there was certainly no recession and consumer confidence remained high. We believe that the main reason for the slight relative improvement was that inflation in foods was above the average for retail sales in 2003. Spending on food would not have responded to that small relative difference and the proportion of food in the spending mix therefore increased.
For the food retailers, food is the core of the business and the principal traffic driver. Tesco and ASDA have both managed to become destination outlets for some non-foods, but that is very unusual in the context of UK food retailing.
Figure 14: UK: Spending on food and drink, 1999-2003Јm, excl VAT% change 1999-2003Bread and cereals8,0658,3468,7029,0549,137+13.311,88312,26512,38412,62813,369+12.52,0632,1522,2982,4002,344+13.6Milk, cheese and eggs7,2637,4127,4807,4357,721+6.3Oils and fats1,2231,2191,2211,1841,188-2.9Fruit3,9614,068