NPD hasn’t necessarily dropped off in the past 12 months, says Farhi. It’s more the case that the filter on it has become harsher. “There’s less money sloshing around, so you need to actually make a business case for your product and offer more genuine support for it. But also, NPD will be less about premium and ethical and more about offering value for money.” IGD head of commissioned research Anne Bordier says the ability to understand consumer patterns and share this knowledge with retailers will assume even greater importance in coming months.

You know, I always thought I liked pesto. But every time I ate it I ended off a little dissatisfied and not very happy with my dinner. It seems to work fairly OK in a sandwich with a load of other flavours but after yet another unsatisfactory pesto & pasta dinner I decided I don't like pesto much. So I'm not going to buy it again. CCE remains untouchable in soft drinks, its depth of research and insight helping it secure its sixth successive category victory. "The key factor is to provide added value to customers beyond simply the price of your products," says Ian Deste, vice president for sales & customer development. "Key elements have included in-depth promotional evaluation to ensure effectiveness of promotions as well as significant investment in shopper and consumer research." Even finding the perfect loo roll holder that doesn't fall of the wall all the time, doesn't tip downwards so the loo roll falls off, and doesn't require some sort of engineering qualification to change the roll. P&G won plaudits both for its collaborative approach to promotions strategy and its strong category support. "Our promotional calendar is developed in tandem with key accounts, and impeccable in-store execution is an essential element of what we do," says P&G sales director Jon Workman. The company's ShelfHelp initiative is key to its ability to deliver effective merchandising and category information for retailers, he adds. We’re seeing more and more suppliers, and particularly the bigger ones, becoming much more honest about how they do things. They are more open because they realise it’s in their joint interests to grow the category. Also, if the plan doesn’t work within six, nine, 12 months, the results are there to be seen and you’re going to lose some serious face,” he says.Farhi believes that while the desire for promotional contributions may have played into the hands of big brand owners in this year’s survey, there is no need for smaller branded players to lose heart just yet. “As a small brand owner you have to own your own niche. As long as you have that differentiated proposition, you won’t get delisted. But if you’re the fourth-biggest laundry brand with nothing that the consumer values differently from the top three, then you’re in trouble.” Market Deli is directed at the over 45’s market and is expected to sell at a premium over other Walkers products. The 40g size, which is being aimed at vending operators, retails for 83p. Red Sky was launched in 2009 as a standalone brand with no Walkers branding. Aimed at the premium end of the market, the crisps went on sale at a higher rrp point than even market leader Kettle Chips - despite the fact that it was not a hand-cooked crisp. Walkers is testing the theory with its new super-premium Red Sky crisps. "Our testing shows Red Sky has potential to broaden the appeal of the premium crisps category," says Ian Ellington, Walkers vice president of marketing.

Experts, however, believe that while premium brands may suffer a blip during the recession, the category as a whole should be able to weather the economic storm and emerge stronger for it. Walker’s Marketing Director Thomas Barkholt told PV ‘this is very much a premium product. It was important for us to get the deli feel – a deli is a bit like a sweet shop for adults – and that’s what we’ve tried to capture.’

Indies clash over Walkers Extra Crunchy coup", The Grocer, William Reed Business Media, 21 August 2010, archived from the original on 16 January 2013 , retrieved 3 May 2012 Bamford, Vince (14 March 2012), "Walkers reveals its three mystery flavours", The Grocer, William Reed Business Media, archived from the original on 1 May 2012 , retrieved 25 April 2012

Walkers abandons Potato Heads line". Archived from the original on 4 May 2009 . Retrieved 26 January 2009. McElwain, Aoife (17 June 2019). "Did Tayto really invent cheese and onion crisps?". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021 . Retrieved 16 September 2020. In terms of NPD, we looked for suppliers who moved away from the added-value side of things into more grounded products – products that consumers are looking for on a more day-to-day basis, reflecting value for money,” says Simpson. Red Sky Potato Chips from Walkers". Talkingretail.com. 5 March 2009. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012 . Retrieved 12 July 2012. So not a very pesto-y taste, but at the same time an extremely tasty, in fact yummy, taste and I would be happy to recommend these to anyone who fancies the idea.Saw a huge French Fancy cake in Morrisons' in-store bakery in Wolverhampton. It's one of the party cakes that's baked in store. Not Mr Kipling though but still looks great," Commitment to growing the overall category has not gone unnoticed by buyers. Morrisons is working with its suppliers on a joint business planning process with a focus not only on the individual supplier’s products but on the category as a whole, says Simpson.

but did get my hands on this and Phish Food Frozen Yogurt. Usual high quality B+J ice cream here, for those not so keen on nuts (myself included) it is surprisingly tasty. This is largely because although the tub claims "10% chocolatey covered macadamia nuts", in the ingredients it actually lists 3% nuts! That means each 'nut' is made up of over twice as much chocolate as there is actual macadamia. We found them easily in Scotland (Paisley), but here in the Midlands it's a Scampi Fries-free wasteland!"puzzlement over how these are supposed to work - I found that they make a recognisably Cadbury's-flavoured beverage when added to microwaved milk (though not as nice as the Gu Hot Chocolate from the Waitrose cafe on Edgware Road), especially if you resist the temptation to take a peek at the chunk while it's disintegrating. Clusters are basically mini cornflake cakes with raisins thrown in and the peanuts are, well... chocolate-covered peanuts!" hurrahs For smaller brand owners, who often have limited access to the market data enjoyed by their bigger rivals, it’s imperative they make the resources they do have work as hard as possible, Bordier adds. It’s easier for the bigger guys to take a long-term view. They perhaps realise that over 12, 18 or 24 months they may have to take a little bit of a hit by investing in their brands, whereas for the smaller guys that’s going to be a lot more of a challenge,” says Morrisons buyer Craig Simpson.