Coca-Cola remains the world’s most purchased brand for the 12th consecutive year while at-home treats define reshaped shopper behaviour in 2023.
Kantar’s Worldpanel reveals the world’s most chosen brands and lays out a comprehensive view of how shopper behaviour evolved around the world in 2023.
With the global FMCG inflation rate halving from 8.4% in 2022 to 4% in 2023, shoppers started mixing treating and premium purchases alongside the coping strategies of 2022.
Brand Footprint, Kantar’s analysis of consumer behaviour in 62 markets representing 76% of the global population and 86% of global GDP, reveals that average grocery spend per household around the world exceeded $1,000 for the first time on record, almost 60% more than was spent a decade earlier in 2013.
According to the latest quarterly employment survey (QES) published by Stats SA, the average monthly earnings increased by 1.6%, rising from R26,471 in August 2023 to R26,894 in November.
The BankservAfrica Take-home Pay Index (BTPI) for April 2024 showed a nominal average after-tax salary of R15,374 in South Africa.
Financial services firm Sanlam noted that the lowest income earners in South Africa spend up to 50% of their salaries on groceries, while the middle class spends around 34% of their salaries on groceries, based on Stats SA data. Higher-income households allocate about 11% of their salaries to groceries.
However, according to spending data from FNB, groceries are one of the most significant expenses for South Africans, accounting for 28% of their incomes.
For instance, 28% of an average after-tax salary of R15,300 amounts to approximately R4,284. This figure, however, does not consider dual-income households.
According to the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity, in May 2024, the average cost of the Household Food Basket was R5 330,30.
Santam caught up with four South African households, all earning R25 000 per month and under, to find out how they manage it month to month.
Nathan Collings (36) and Marga Meyer (34)
Since moving in together, engaged couple Nathan and Marga have realised that the cost of living greatly decreases when sharing expenses. “When it comes to groceries, I try to buy as much bulk as I can, as it lowers the cost over the long run. Our grocery budget incrementally decreases in three-month cycles,” says Marga. They spend around R6 000 in month one, and thanks to bulk buying, their budget drops to around R4 500 in month two, and R4 000 in month three. “When buying bulk, always go for meat, coffee, and canned food,” her partner Nathan advises.
Nathan and Marga’s grocery budget top tip
“For certain meals, I’ve found it’s actually cheaper to buy pre-made,” says Marga. “Most grocery stores have buffet-style counters; I will add a spoonful of things we crave, like mash, glazed veggies, and spiced rice – the quantities are small, but we get variety for a lot cheaper than making all of those things at home – especially if you factor in that you’re not using electricity or gas to cook, and no water and detergent for washing up.”
Daniel Tate (34) and Johan Horn (32)
Daniel and Johan are a couple, and to cut down on the cost of living in the city, they share a house with two other people. “It was a no-brainer that we would all split the cost of food,” explains Daniel. “We plan meals for the week, and everyone contributes.” Daniel also notes that they’ve made certain sacrifices when it comes to groceries: “We eat mainly vegetarian because of the cost of meat, but try to remain creative.” Currently, each person in the house contributes R1 750, for a total spending of R7 000 per month.
Daniel and Johan’s grocery budget top tip
“It’s not always realistic to plan every single meal for 30 days in advance,” says Daniel. “We only do grocery budgets for Monday to Friday along with our housemates. For the weekends, we’ve set aside R750 each, which we use as our ‘whatever we want to eat’ fund.”
Thandeka Philander (38)
Thandeka is a single mother living in the heart of Cape Town’s CBD, so a large part of her salary goes towards rent and school fees. “It also means that I’ve had to get quite creative and frugal when it comes to groceries. To help cut costs, my family gave me a great idea to go back to basics: traditional dishes.” She explains that she’s teaching her daughter simple yet hearty eating with meals consisting of pap, grains, beans and offal, which are much cheaper than processed foods. Thandeka spends between R5 000 and R6 500 on groceries for her household every month.
Thandeka’s grocery budget top tip
“Keep an eye on online deals,” she says. “Many major sites sell everything from baking supplies to fresh produce. I like to stock up on things like snacks and earn points through my bank that I can redeem on future purchases.”
Edwain Steenkamp (34)
Edwain is a freelancer, which means money is on his mind most of the time. “I have to be extra careful when it comes to budgeting – especially for food. I’ve been able to cut my grocery budget by almost R1 500 per month with meal-prepping. On Sundays, I cook five portions of food and freeze it for the week.” He suggests looking out for hearty ingredients that pack a punch without breaking the bank: “Consider chickpeas, lentils, rice, potatoes, and use fragrant and powerful spices; somehow they get even tastier after defrosting!”
Ed’s grocery budget top tip
“I always go to a mall for groceries. This means I can stop at several shops to get the best deals at each one. Sometimes Woolworths has milk on sale, but Pick ‘n Pay has bread on a special. While it may take some extra time, you’ll be surprised how much money you can save!” Ed currently spends around R4 500 on groceries every month.
Report findings
Some of the world's largest companies compete for market share in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry including Tyson Foods, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Danone.
Key insights from Kantar's study:
Coca-Cola remains the world’s most purchased brand for the 12th consecutive year. Penetration – or the percentage of households that purchase the brand – grew 2.6%. The brand was chosen off the shelf by consumers almost 8.3 billion times.
Red Bull was the fastest growing FMCG brand, with 17.8% growth regarding the number of times it’s purchased (1.43 billion times), thanks to more new shoppers in markets including Brazil, Mainland China, France, Germany and the US.
Average spend on FMCG brand increased by 8.6% to $1,052 per buyer, as a result of grocery inflation that averaged 4% during the year, as well as greater at-home treats and shifts to premium purchases to offset coping strategies.
North American shoppers spent the most on packaged FMCG products, averaging $3,063 per household, while consumers in Bangladesh spent the least, averaging less than $159.
The mix of spending across global brands, local brands and private label groceries continues to evolve. Spending on private label goods increased by 0.5% points to reach 22.7%. Despite a fall in unit sales, global brands retained 30% of spend thanks to increased prices and premiumisation.
‘Shopping around’ continued as a coping strategy as shopping trips increased by 2.4%. ‘Discount Grocery Stores’ increased their share of shopper spend by 10.3% to reach 16% share globally (and 24.5% in Western Europe).
The Brand Footprint study, from Kantar’s Worldpanel division, unpacks the 460 billion brand choices made by shoppers last year — an average of 29 brand decisions each month - to reveal the significant headwinds facing FMCG brands.
Of all FMCG purchases made in 2023, global brands represented 30% of sales value, unchanged vs 2022. Local and regional brands represented 47% of purchases, while private label sales increased by 0.5 percentage points to reach 22.7%.
Discount retailers achieved 10.5% value growth year on year on a global basis to represent 16% of all grocery spend, compared to 9.6% in 2021. Globally, 61% of households are extremely or very concerned with rising grocery costs. As a result, while 64% of global brands are growing in value terms, only half of FMCG brands are growing in terms of consumer choices – how many times they are chosen off the shelf by consumers.
Analysis of the FMCG categories which are attracting new shoppers reveals a trend in more shoppers buying caffeinated drinks. Instant coffee saw 1.5% penetration growth year on year (purchased by 30.2m shoppers), sports and energy drinks gained 1.2% penetration growth, or 24.3 million shoppers, and carbonated soft drinks gained 1.1% equating to 31.7 million new shoppers.
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