Coca-Cola tops £1 billion sales in UK

Coca-Cola has become the first brand to top £1 billion in annual UK grocery sales, a survey has revealed.

Sales of the drink rose £47.6 million in the past year, taking the total to £1,011.1 million, according to figures compiled for The Grocer magazine’s Britain’s 100 Biggest Brands annual survey.

Warburtons was the second highest-selling brand with sales of £706.1 million followed by Walkers crisps at £511.2 million.

Hovis was the biggest growing brand with sales of £458.7 million, up £53.8 million on 2008.

The brand to suffer the biggest decline in actual terms was Tropicana, down £19 million to £269.4 million.

The Grocer editor Adam Leyland said: “Coca-Cola’s success is a testament to the power of branding and marketing management, not least in the mystique surrounding the secret formula, but also the consistency with which the same curly-wurly logo has adorned countless bottles, cans, paper cups and other receptacles since its UK launch in 1900.

“Amid all the talk of retro brands, no-one talks about Coca-Cola. But a retro brand implies it went out of fashion, while Coca-Cola is somehow timeless.”

He added: “In much the same way that established rock acts are wheeled out for another world tour, ‘golden oldies’ such as Coca-Cola, Hovis, Heinz soup, John West, Rowntree’s and even Twinings have skilfully exploited their familiarity in these uncertain times while new acts go undiscovered.”

New entries to the top 100 include Glade, Quavers, Heinz pasta, Rowntree’s, Philadelphia, Clover and Twinings.

Among those falling out of the rankings were Aero, Yeo Valley Organic, Cadbury’s biscuits and Bernard Matthews cooked meat.
Source: Press Association