UK oat milk sales grew 7.2% year on year, and oat now makes up nearly 40% of the plant-based drinks market, according to The Guardian.
Shifts like this rarely arrive as headlines. They show up first as a few extra points of rate of sale in one retailer, a segment that keeps gaining distribution, or a competitor's new pack that holds its price. For category and RGM teams, the hard part isn't spotting a trend once it's in the press. It's acting on it while there's still growth to capture.
Three signals worth watching
- Segment growth against the category. Is the segment growing faster than the category around it, and in which retailers first?
- Rate of sale where it's ranged. Growth from new distribution looks very different from growth in rate of sale. The second tells you shoppers are choosing it.
- Price and promotion. Is the segment growing at full price, or only on deal? Promotion-led growth rarely lasts.
Act on it in the range review
Buyers make space decisions on evidence. A brand that walks in with the segment's growth, its rate of sale and the incremental value to the category is the brand that gets the space.
With Core, every retailer's data is harmonised into one view, so segment trends, distribution and rate of sale are ready-made and refreshed with every data drop. With Intelligence, you can ask "which segments are growing ahead of the category in Tesco?" and get the answer with the evidence.