It’s that time of year again when kids pack away their swimming trunks and haul out their backpacks. With this comes back-to-school shopping for school supplies, lunches and afternoon snacks. What better time to capitalize on the year’s second highest retail sales time than now?
Parents will be on the hunt for meal and snack items that are healthy, cost-effective and tasty. Peanuts and peanut butter are portable, convenient, packed with vitamins, minerals, protein and fibre, and are so versatile they can be incorporated into every meal and snack of the day. With many flavours available, why not direct shoppers to one of Canada’s most popular snack items – peanuts and peanut butter! Keep in mind that, more than ever, shoppers are conscious of how their food is packaged. Make sure to offer environmentally-friendly product packaging to make their trip to the grocery store easy and breezy.
As we head into the two busiest quarters of the year, it’s important to stay on top of industry trends. Below are some important category sales and product movements specific to peanut butter, as well as shelled and in-shell peanuts in 2011 by Nielsen of Canada. Should you be interested in learning more, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Peanut Butter - 52 weeks ending November 26, 2011 - All grocery banners + drug + mass merchandisers
- • Nationally, total peanut butter category sales grew by +3 per cent to almost $178 million in 2011, with unit volume increasing by +5 per cent (vs. 2010)
- • National brands accounted for 79.9 per cent of total category dollar sales and 78.9 per cent of total category volume
- • Control label brands accounted for 20.1 per cent of total category dollar sales in 2011, down -7 per cent vs. 2010, with control label volume also falling by -8 per cent (vs. 2010)
- • Smooth peanut butter remains the dominate spread; it accounted for 82.3 per cent of total category dollar sales (up +2 per cent vs. 2010) and 82.0 per cent of total category volume (up +5 per cent vs. 2010)
- • Crunchy peanut butter saw its category sales climb by 5 per cent in 2011 to account for 17.7 per cent of total category dollar sales, with its total category volume also increasing by +7 per cent to 18.0 per cent category share
- • 500g peanut butter sales fell -5 per cent in 2011 and accounted for 21.6 per cent of total category dollar sales and 24.9 per cent of total category volume (down -6 per cent); average regular unit price: $3.67
- • 750g peanut butter sales rose +39 per cent in 2011 to account for 10.0 per cent of total category dollar sales and 10.2 per cent of total category volume (up +44 per cent); average regular unit price: $4.28
- • 1kg peanut butter sales rose +3 per cent in 2011 to account for 53.4 per cent of total category dollar sales and 55.9 per cent of total category volume (up +10.2 per cent); average regular unit price: $4.55
- • 2.0 to 2.27kg peanut butter sales declined by -2 per cent to account for 14.6 per cent of total category dollar sales and 8.6 per cent of total category volume (no change from 2010); average regular unit price: $6.50
- • All other peanut butter sizes saw their dollar sales increase by +11 per cent to account for 0.3 per cent of total category dollar sales however, their volume fell by -18 per cent (vs. 2010) to account for 0.3 per cent of total category volume
Shelled Nuts / Shelled Peanuts - 52 weeks ending November 26, 2011 - All grocery banners + drug + mass merchandisers
- • Nationally, all shelled nut category sales (all types) grew by +8 per cent to almost $249 million in 2011, with unit volume increasing by +2 per cent (vs. 2010)
- • Shelled peanuts accounted for 23.7 per cent of Canada's of total shelled nut category sales (growth of +9 per cent in 2011) and accounted for just over $59 million in total sales; unit volume also rose in 2011 by +4 per cent to account for 33.8 per cent unit share of market
- • National average retail unit price for total shelled peanuts: $3.19 each
- • Specific to shelled peanuts, controlled labels accounted for just over one-half (54 per cent) of shelled peanut sales
- • Control label shelled peanut sales grew by +16 per cent in 2011 ($ share of category: 12.8 per cent), with unit volume also increasing by +9 per cent (unit share: 17 per cent)
- • National average retail unit price for controlled label shelled peanuts: $3.43
- • Sales of shelled peanuts grew the most in Western Canada (+13 per cent) followed by Ontario (+9 per cent) and Atlantic Canada (+1 per cent); sales in Quebec remained flat compared to 2010
- • Within the general merchandise and warehouse clubs sector, sales of shelled nuts (all types) grew by +10 per cent in 2011 (vs. 2010) to just over $82 million however, unit volume sales fell by -10 per cent; within this, sales of shelled peanuts grew by impressively in 2011 (+24 per cent) to ~ $4.4 million (5.4 per cent share), with unit volume sales also increasing +3 per cent (11.7 per cent share of total category unit volume)
In-Shell Peanuts - 52 weeks ending November 26, 2011 - All grocery banners + drug + mass merchandisers + general merchandise + warehouse clubs
- • Nationally, in-shell peanuts sales in 2011 fell by -26 per cent to ~ $11.7 million, with total tonnage volume down -22 per cent (reflecting tight supply conditions that prevailed throughout much of 2011, extending into early 2012)
- • Average retail unit price for all in-shell peanuts: $3.42
- • Within the in-shell category, controlled label in-shell peanuts accounted for 43.6 per cent of the category's dollar share, with sales of almost $5.1 million (down -39 per cent vs. 2010); by tonnage / volume, controlled label in-shell peanuts accounted for 36.1 per cent of total in-shell volume, a decline of -39 per cent vs. 2010
- • Average retail unit price for controlled label in-shell peanuts: $4.14
Source: Nielsen Worldwide