Dive Brief:
- Unilever reported 1.9% underlying sales growth for its food business with revenue totaling €3.1 billion ($3.5 billion) in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.
- The company's refreshment business drove that increase, with 3.8% underlying growth for the category to €2.2 billion ($2.5 billion). The sales increase was split between volume and price, Unilever said.
- Unilever is driving growth across the board by aligning its innovation with strategically-chosen product segments and ingredients. The company is also using marketing and promotional efforts to re-establish category leadership in different global markets, such as tea in India.
Dive Insight:
On the product side, Ben & Jerry's has recently launched Wich sandwiches, which emphasize convenience and portability to reposition the ice cream in the fast-growing snacking category. The brand's new line of non-dairy ice creams made from almond milk appeal to consumers in another surging category, dairy alternatives (and plant-based products in general).
What's key here is that Unilever has carefully selected the trends with which to align its products. Instead of focusing on fad ingredients that are en vogue one day and fade the next, the company has chosen trends with more staying power.
Snacking, for example, is a movement in the food industry as consumers actively change their eating habits to fit their more active lifestyles. The same goes for plant-based foods. The increased consumption of plant-based foods and beverages, whether for health reasons or eco-consciousness, also marks a categorical shift in consumers' eating habits and their ways of thinking about the products they buy.