Sugary treats occupy more than half of the top 10 positions in the latest edition of Checkout Magazine's Top 100 Brands, published this morning.
For the 14th year in a row Coca-Cola appears to be the most beloved brand among Irish consumers with Cadbury's Dairy Milk, Lucozade, 7-Up, Jacobs and Red Bull also occupying places in the top 10.
The top rank is also populated by Brennans, Avonmore and Tayto – with all appearing in the top five. This indicates the level of loyalty that consumers have to Ireland’s biggest household names.
Other Irish brands which have made headway in this year’s list include health-bar brand Fulfil, which climbs from 68th place last year to 49th this year while crisp brand O’Donnells has jumped 19 places from last year to 77th.
Rankings
"What we are seeing in this year's Top 100 Brands ranking is an overall trend of steady growth for many fast moving consumer goods brands and some significant growth for others," said Checkout editor Maev Martin.
Among the brands which have climbed in the rankings are Ballygowan, Dairygold, Keelings Fruit, Magnum, Flahavan's, MiWadi, Panadol, Ben & Jerry's and Cadbury Wispa.
The top 100 is based on branded value sales across the Irish grocery sector and in compiling the report, Nielsen measures the sales performance of more than 6,500 brands from more than 200 product classes.
"The relative stability of the Top 100 Brands' top-10 membership indicates that well-established and home-made brands are holding their own in the Irish market," said Ms Martin. "Despite the continued rise of private label, and legislative changes in relation to packaging and the recent sugar tax, Ireland's best-known and loved brands continue to innovate and thrive."
One of the biggest movers in this year’s Top 100 Brands report is Innocent drinks, which ranked 39th in 2017 but soars to 28th this year. Elsewhere, chocolate brand Lindt, which made its debut in the rankings last year, improved on last year’s 40th place by moving up to 31st.
Impressive feat
The biggest mover this year, however, is energy drink Monster, which entered the top 100 brands last year, claiming 64th place. This year it performs an equally impressive feat, vaulting to 38th in the rankings.
"There is good news for brands in 2018," said Claire Cullen, head of analytics at Nielsen Ireland. "The strong economic performance, healthy labour market and positive consumer confidence has led to an easing of pressure on household budgets, boosting brand sales. Performing ahead of private label across all channels, exciting new opportunities are emerging, as shopper behaviour and needs change."
