Abstract
Overview
Introduction
Many food products are experiencing high growth rates but it is important that
forecourt retailers understand which they should include in their limited shop
space. Based on Datamonitor' s consumer products database and customer
research, this brief identifies the fastest growing food markets and the
opportunities for forecourt retailers therein.
Scope
- Growth in sales of four of the fastest growing food categories through
forecourt shops between 2000 and 2006, with forecasts to 2011.
- Analysis of the consumer trends which are driving growth in selected
categories and how they are particularly relevant to forecourt retailers.
- A detailed overview of some newly-launched products which are suitable for
the forecourt shop and are amongst the fastest growing categories.
Report Highlights
Cereal bars stand out as a category which forecourt retailers are well placed
to exploit due to the increasing numbers of consumers that want to eat
on-the-go. Furthermore, as Europeans' average commuting times are set to
increase from 67 minutes in 2006 to 72 minutes in 2011, the snacking on-the-go
trend is expected to become even more important.
Chilled ready meals represent a strong growth area for service station shops
and have been expanding at a particularly rapid rate in Ukraine and Russia. As
consumers increasingly engage in ' top-up' shopping, ready meals will remain a
strong growth area for forecourt retailers.
Sales of speadable fats have been enjoying robust growth and the range of
product types on the market has never been wider. Functional spreads have
become particularly popular with butter and margarine products increasingly
being enriched with a range of vitamins and minerals.
Reasons to Purchase
- Measure which food categories are growing in popularity through the
forecourt shop channel and generate ideas for new product introductions.
- Uncover the key drivers behind the growth rates of different product
categories and gauge how forecourt retailers can best exploit these.
- Identify the markets in which key food categories are growing at the
quickest rates and forecast how this is expected to change in the future.
Table of Contents
- DATAMONITOR VIEW
- ANALYSIS
- Cereal bars in forecourt shops provide busy motorists with a healthy
snack on-the-go
- Service station sales of cereal bars have been growing quicker than
sales through convenience stores
- In the majority of European markets, service station sales of cereal
bars are expected to grow at a faster rate than the market average
- Within the cereal bars category, sports and energy bars, and breakfast
replacement bars are forecast to grow at the fastest rates
- Forecourt retailers should exploit the growing consumer demand for
sports and energy bars
- Ready meals provide forecourt retailers with a good way of providing
customers with fresh meal solutions
- Growth of chilled ready meals sales have been particularly strong in
Ukraine and Russia
- In Russia and Ukraine, growth in service station sales is expected to
significantly exceed the market average
- Fish-based ready meals are expected to experience the fastest growth
- Providing ready meals in forecourts responds to consumer demand for
' top-up' shopping
- Forecourt retailers should offer the fastest growing ready meal types
- Offering spreadable fats in forecourts enables motorists to undertake
part of their shopping whilst on-the-go
- Growth in sales of spreadable fats through service stations has
outstripped that of convenience store sales
- Service station sales of spreadable fats are predicted to continue to
grow at the fastest rates in Lithuania and Estonia
- Within spreadable fats, functional dairy spreads are predicted to grow
at the strongest rates
- Forecourt retailers should take advantage of the wide range of
spreadable fats available
- Forecourt retailers are well placed to benefit from the growth in
functional gum sales
- The growth of gum sales through service stations has been particularly
strong in Estonia and Lithuania
- Gum sales through service stations are predicted to continue to be
strongest in the Baltic States
- The highest growth going forward is forecast to come from the
functional chewing gum
- Chewing gum products contain an increasing number of functional
ingredients in Western European markets
- APPENDIX
- Definitions
- Methodology
- Product selection
- Further reading
- Ask the analyst
- Datamonitor consulting
- Disclaimer
- List of Figures
- Figure 1: In 24 of the 29 European markets covered, service station
sales of cereal bars have been growing at a quicker rate than convenience
store sales
- Figure 2: In 22 of the 27 European markets covered, sales of cereal
bars through service stations are predicted to grow at a faster pace than
the market average
- Figure 3: Across Europe, sales of sports and energy bars, and
breakfast replacement bars, are predicted to grow at an annual rate in
excess of 12%
- Figure 4: The Virginias 0% Dietoos bar
- Figure 5: Novartis' Isostar bar
- Figure 6: The Body Check bar from Friggs
- Figure 7: In 21 of the 29 European markets covered, sales of chilled
ready meals have grown at a greater pace through service stations than
convenience stores
- Figure 8: In Russia and Ukraine, service stations sales of chilled
ready meals are expected to grow at a much faster rate than total market
sales
- Figure 9: Across Europe, fish-based ready meals are expected to grow
at an average annual rate of 11% between 2006 and 2011
- Figure 10: Fish-based ready meal from Homyakovskiy Hladokombinat
- Figure 11: Nautilus Food' s range of seafood ready meals
- Figure 12: Plus Vertriebs' Mr Yuan Sushi
- Figure 13: Forecourt sales of spreadable fats have been particularly
strong in Lithuania and Estonia
- Figure 14: Forecourt sales of spreadable fats are predicted to
continue to grow at an average annual rate in excess of 15%
- Figure 15: At the European level, functional dairy spreads are
forecast to grow at an annual rate of 37%
- Figure 16: Unilever Eesti' s Delma Extra Margarine
- Figure 17: Unilever' s Bercel Margarine Omega 3 Plus
- Figure 18: Breeo Foods' Dairygold Low Fat Spread
- Figure 19: In 26 of the 29 European markets covered, sales of gum have
grown at a more rapid pace through service stations than convenience stores
- Figure 20: In Lithuania, service stations sales of gum are expected to
grow at 8 percentage points higher than the market average
- Figure 21: At the European level, functional chewing gum is expected
to grow at an average annual rate of 11% between 2006 and 2011
- Figure 22: Wrigley' s chewing gum and model truck
- Figure 23: Serra Industria Dolciaria' s ' Extra Large Bubble'
- Figure 24: Cadbury' s V-6 dental gum
- Figure 25: At the European level, functional spreads grew at the
quickest rate of all food sub-categories between 2000 and 2006