The Euromonitor research group has released its latest white paper on confectionery, which highlights that in 2019, vegetarian, organic and gluten-free were the top-three online product claims.
Titled “Leveraging Product Claims to Build a Successful Brand Strategy” the organisation used its new Product Claims and Positioning system in order to track over 150 clean, ethical and dietary labels to identify top product claims across 40 countries and 11 industries. This involved analysing 1,500 retailers’ data, and establishing item claims made by manufacturers.
According to the research paper, there were more than 13,000 e-commerce product stock keeping units (SKU’s) claiming vegetarian status for chocolate items in the world, with nearly 12,000 for organic, and just over 10,000 claiming gluten free credentials. This was followed by Fairtrade (over 6,000), vegan (also over 6,000), with no sugar being promoted by under 4,000 items.
Among some of the key areas that were recommended as action points for manufacturers included the need to become knowledgeable about the latest trends for the market and analysing competitors, creating strong branding, and identifying opportunities for innovation.
“Consumer goods companies need to monitor developing trends and find white spaces to stay ahead of the competition,” says Katharina Bagul, food and nutrition industry manager at Euromonitor International. The new system provides data on online penetration of product claims to help businesses understand conscious consumerism, support brand positioning initiatives, target formulation opportunities and benchmark product portfolios against competitors.
“Aligning corporate strategies with leading claims allows companies to meet consumer demand, while being at the forefront of emerging claims that could drive new product development,” adds Bagul.
As Euromonitor noted, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are even more reliant on the online channel to shop and search for claims information, pressing companies to find the best positioning to address consumer demands. For more information on the organisation’s findings, access the white paper here.
