Table of Contents
Overview
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- What you need to know
- Covered in this Report
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- Figure 1: Definition of low/mid/high MHI groups, by city tier
Executive Summary
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- The market
- Growth rate slows down in both value and volume
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- Figure 2: Best- and worst-case retail volume sales forecast of biscuits, China, 2011-21
- Figure 3: Best- and worst-case retail value sales forecast of biscuits, China, 2011-21
- Sweet biscuits growing faster than savoury biscuits
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- Figure 4: Proportion of savoury and sweet biscuits, 2011-16
- Companies and brands
- Cookie manufacturers are winning
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- Figure 5: Value share of top 11 companies, 2014-16
- Classic flavours are decreasing
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- Figure 6: Top 10 flavours of biscuits, China, 2014-16
- Using natural sweeteners to reduce the added sugar
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- Figure 7: Top 10 claims of new biscuits, China, 2014-16
- The consumer
- Indulgent biscuits are popular
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- Figure 8: Consumption trends of different biscuits/crackers, January 2017
- Sweet biscuits are indulgent; savoury are healthy but less diverse
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- Figure 9: Attributes consumers associate with sweet or savoury biscuits, January 2017
- Indulgence means crispy and with layers of textures and flavours
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- Figure 10: Attributes consumers associate with indulgent biscuits, January 2017
- Room for more cheese-flavoured biscuits
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- Figure 11: Biscuit flavours consumers are interested in buying, January 2017
- Nuts and dairy are the most popular ingredients
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- Figure 12: Ingredients that would improve the nutritional value of a biscuit/cracker, January 2017
- Biscuits enjoys positive image in consumers’ mind
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- Figure 13: Consumers' general attitudes towards biscuits and crackers, January 2017
- Mintropolitans eat more biscuits than the other groups
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- Figure 14: Consumers who ‘eat more’ of the following biscuits, by consumer classification, January 2017
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Less is more: the rise of thin biscuits
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 15: Production example of biscuits featuring ‘thin in shape’, China, 2016-17
- Figure 16: Mondelēz’ Good Thins, US 2016
- Breakfast biscuits 2.0
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 17: Product example of breakfast biscuits innovations, US and China, 2015-17
- Spice up the savoury biscuit/cracker aisle
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 18: Lance Quick Starts bacon cheddar breakfast biscuit sandwiches, US, 2015
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Growth rate slows down in both value and volume
- Increasing availability of imported biscuits
- Sweet biscuits growing faster than savoury biscuits
Market Size and Forecast
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- Growth rate slows down in both value and volume
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- Figure 19: Retail market size of biscuits in China, 2011-16
- Forecast to grow at a CAGR of 2.8% in volume
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- Figure 20: Best- and worst-case retail volume sales forecast of biscuits, China, 2011-21
- Figure 21: Best- and worst-case retail value sales forecast of biscuits, China, 2011-21
Market Factors
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- Increasing availability of imported biscuits
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- Figure 22: Volume and value of imported sweet biscuits to China, 2014-16
- Figure 23: China’s top 10 importing countries for sweet biscuits, 2015 and 2016
- Room to grow the consumption per capita
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- Figure 24: Consumers’ biscuit consumption per capita per year, by country, 2016 (est)
- Raw ingredient price increase will accelerate the premiumisation
- Café and bakery may become a threat
- Rising cross-category competition
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- Figure 25: Product example of chocolate products featuring biscuits, Puerto Rico and US, 2017
Market Segmentation
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- Sweet biscuits growing faster than savoury biscuits
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- Figure 26: Value of biscuit market in China, by segment, 2011-16
- Both categories should be able to keep the positive growth
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- Figure 27: Best- and worst-case retail value sales forecast of savoury biscuits, China, 2011-21
- Figure 28: Best- and worst-case retail value sales forecast of sweet biscuits, China, 2011-21
Key Players – What You Need to Know
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- Cookie manufacturers are the winners
- Classic flavours are decreasing
- On-the-go claim growing; low-sugar claim declining
Market Share
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- Mayora Group was the biggest winner
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- Figure 29: Value share of top 11 companies, 2014-16
- Mondelēz lost the most share
- The growth of imported biscuits and the e-commerce brands
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- Figure 30: Example products from the emerging international players, China, 2016
Competitive Strategies
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- Glico co-brands with Twinings to expand consumers’ usage
- The cookie market becomes more crowded
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- Figure 31: Butter-flavoured cookies from Fujian Dali Group, China, 2016
- Glico also launches products targeting the breakfast occasion
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- Figure 32: Glico’s new product targeting the breakfast occasion
- Mondelēz signed agreement with Alibaba in 2016
Who’s Innovating?
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- Classic flavours are decreasing
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- Figure 33: Top 10 flavours of biscuits, China, 2014-16
- Figure 34: Product example of biscuits with unconventional flavours, Japan, 2016
- Vegetable and cranberry are two rising flavours
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- Figure 35: Emerging flavours of biscuits, China, 2014-16
- Figure 36: Product example of cranberry-flavoured biscuits, China, 2016-17
- Using natural sweeteners to reduce the added sugar
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- Figure 37: Top 10 claims of new biscuits, China, 2014-16
- Figure 38: Product example of biscuits featuring natural sweeteners, Indonesia, US and Germany, 2016-17
- Extend the brand to other categories
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- Figure 39: Product innovation featuring Oreo
- The five-colour biscuit
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- Figure 40: The five-colour biscuit from Emart, South Korea, 2016
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Sweet biscuits are indulgent; savoury are healthy but less diverse
- Nuts and dairy are the most popular ingredients
- Indulgence means crispiness and layers of flavour and texture
- Room for more cheese-flavoured biscuits
Consumption Trends
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- Indulgent biscuits are popular
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- Figure 41: Consumption trends of different biscuits/crackers, January 2017
- 25-29s eat the most; 40-49s eat the least
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- Figure 42: Consumers who eat more of the following types of biscuits, by age, January 2017
- The affluent group and consumers with children eat more
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- Figure 43: Consumers who eat more of the following types of biscuits, by income level, January 2017
- Figure 44: Consumers who eat more of the following types of biscuits, by presence of children in the household, January 2017
Comparison of Sweet and Savoury Biscuits
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- Sweet biscuits are used as an indulgent snack
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- Figure 45: Milk cream filled wafer from Loacker with a personalisable area on the package, Indonesia, 2017
- Figure 46: Attributes consumers associate with sweet or savoury biscuits, January 2017
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- Figure 47: Product example of sweet biscuits featuring clean label, US, 2015-16
- Savoury biscuits have room to improve the taste experience
- Biscuits have become better value for money
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- Figure 48: Attributes consumers associate with sweet biscuits, January 2017 and November 2014
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- Figure 49: Attributes consumers associate with savoury biscuits, January 2017 and November 2014
Indulgent Attributes
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- Prefer crispy and thin biscuits
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- Figure 50: Attributes consumers associate with indulgent biscuits, January 2017
- Females get attracted by the package; males value the smell
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- Figure 51: Highlighted attributes consumers associate with indulgent biscuits, by gender, January 2017
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- Figure 52: Product example of biscuits with unique package, Hong Kong, Thailand and UK, 2016-17
- The East and South like to eat with drinks
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- Figure 53: Highlighted attributes consumers associate with indulgent biscuits, by region, January 2017
Flavour Preferences
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- Room for more cheese-flavoured biscuits
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- Figure 54: Product example of biscuits with cheese-infused flavours, Germany, India and UK, 2017
- Figure 55: Biscuit flavours consumers are interested in buying, January 2017
- Females have higher interest in unconventional flavours
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- Figure 56: Biscuit flavours consumers are interested in buying, by gender, January 2017
- Local ingredients are preferred
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- Figure 57: Biscuit flavours consumers are interested in buying, by region, January 2017
Healthy Ingredients
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- Nuts and dairy are the most popular ingredients
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- Figure 58: Ingredients that would improve the nutritional value of a biscuit/cracker, January 2017
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- Figure 59: Percentage of the newly launched biscuits with nuts, China, 2014-16
- Eggs are valued by the young
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- Figure 60: Ingredients that would improve the nutritional value of a biscuit/cracker, by age, January 2017
- Figure 61: Product example of biscuits using egg white, Canada, 2016
- Trendy ingredients should enter through premium products
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- Figure 62: Ingredients that would improve the nutritional value of a biscuit/cracker, by MHI level, January 2017
General Attitudes and Usage
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- Biscuits enjoys positive image in consumers’ mind
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- Figure 63: Consumers' general attitudes towards biscuits and crackers, January 2017
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- Figure 64: Product example of biscuits with therapeutic health benefits, Japan and France, 2016-17
- Room for bite-sized and less sweet biscuits
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- Figure 65: Spinach and pumpkin flavoured small mantou shaped biscuit balls from Nishimura Eisei Boro, China, 2017
- The country of origin matters
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- Figure 66: Consumers’ attitudes towards international biscuits and domestic biscuits, January 2017
Meet the Mintropolitans
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- Eat more biscuits than the other groups
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- Figure 67: Consumers who ‘eat more’ of the following biscuits, by consumer classification, January 2017
- Higher interest in the trendy ingredients
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- Figure 68: Ingredients that would improve the nutritional value of a biscuit/cracker, by consumer classification, January 2017
Appendix– Market Size and Forecast
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- Figure 69: Retail value sales of biscuits, by segment, China, 2011-21
- Figure 70: Retail volume sales of biscuits, by segment, China, 2011-21
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Appendix– Market Segmentation
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- Figure 71: Best- and worst-case retail volume sales forecast of sweet biscuits, China, 2011-21
- Figure 72: Best- and worst-case retail volume sales forecast of savoury biscuits, China, 2011-21
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Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
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- Methodology
- Fan chart forecast
- Abbreviations
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