Schools are re-opening: Are you ready? 

Well, the school holidays are coming to an end. While some kids might be not very happy about it, parents are certainly back in action to scout for nothing but the best for their offsprings. It is time for retailers to prep well to meet all the needs.

September will see the summer holidays drawing to a close and the nation’s children trooping back into school. Besides new uniforms and stationery, parents also need to think about what they will put into their kids' lunchboxes. No wonder that ready-to-eat meals and convenient food options see a spike in sales around this time as parents look for quick and easy meal solutions amidst the hustle and bustle of school mornings and evenings.

New age parents are more aware, more particular about what goes in each tiffin and much more concerned about nutrient requirements and allergies.

Retailers should be aware that parents are looking for options that interest and excite their children are interested in their snacks. Offering a variety of options helps keep shoppers interested while one-off and limited-edition flavours drive enthusiasm and exclusivity around the occasion.

As the back-to-school season approaches, it’s a perfect opportunity for convenience retailers to boost sales and enhance their snacking offer by stocking both lunchbox-friendly snacks and after-school treats to meet the varied needs of both young consumers and their health-conscious parents.

The return to school means a surge in demand for a variety of products, making it a key sales period for local grocers. From pens, pencils and basic stationery items to healthy snacks and lunchbox fillers, the need drives increased foot traffic and sales. Parents stock up on fruits, vegetables, and snacks, keen to provide nutritious options for their children’s packed lunches.

Additionally, there’s a growing market for products catering to specific dietary needs, such as gluten-free or allergy-friendly snacks. Catering to these needs can attract a broader customer base.

Lunches and snacks

Post pandemic with more flexible working in some families, many new age parents now vouch for cooking from scratch. When it comes to school lunch, moms and dads are playing extra attention to make it fresh, nutritious as well as fun.

Families will be looking out for top bakery branded items Warburtons, Hovis, and Kingsmill, which together account for more than 50 per cent of pre-packed bread sales, should be on the shelves in abundance. Stocking an extra helping of bakery items will help. Stretching the range to include new exciting and exotic types of bakeries as well as butter, cheese spreads, jams and jellies is also must around this time.

While stocking the bestsellers like Lurpak butter, cheese brands like Cathedral City, Philadelphia and Dairylea along with Marmite, Nutella, Hartley’s, Bonne Maman and Robertson’s should always be the thumb rule, store shelves should also have a section dedicated to new launches and limited editions.

An interesting new item to consider here is delicious new organic salted butter by Omsco, the British farmer-owned co-operative dedicated to organic dairy. Produced in small batches, using traditional methods, Grass Roots Dairy Co. butter is made with 100 per cent organic cream from Omsco Members’ free-range, grass-fed cows –cream that is tumbled in butter barrels and hand salted to give the butter its signature open texture and decadently rich, creamy flavour.

Cheese continues to remain kid and parents’ favourite alike, which is why it’s found in 94 per cent of fridges in the UK. Interestingly, while British Cheddar and Stilton remain popular, many shoppers are increasingly purchasing what were previously considered fancy continental cheese such as Ossau-Oraty and Morbier from France.

As confidence returns, shoppers are likely to be open to spending more on cheese as an affordable indulgence. British consumers Increasingly want to widen their cheese repertoire, and products like Lactalis’s Leerdammer slices, the leading cheese slices brand in the UK in value sales, will encourage them to pick and try.

Chicken reigns as a popular protein, with widespread appeal and significant growth in both value and volume for in-home consumption over the last five years (Lumina). Given its popularity, retailers should ensure they offer a variety of chicken snacks, to cater to parents looking for options for kids.

As the summer holidays draw to a close, retailers should be ready to boost sales by stocking a wide range of healthy bagged snacks as well. Matt Collins, Sales Director at KP Snacks, agrees here, saying that bagged snacks are a staple in children’s lunchboxes and a popular lunchtime, making the back to routine occasion a critical opportunity for retailers to drive sales.

Health remains a top priority for consumers, with parents seeking out healthier options for their children’s lunchboxes and after-school snacks. KP Snacks’ portfolio is a safe bet here as it includes over 100 non-HFSS SKUs.

Collins said, “We believe that snacks can be enjoyed as part of a balanced lifestyle, and we are continuously working to provide snacks that are both delicious and permissible. Our non-HFSS products include Hula Hoops Puft. Worth £10m, Hula Hoops Puft is a deliciously light, low-calorie snack.”

Coming in at just 72 calories per pack, Hula Hoops Puft offers a great option for a healthier lunchbox snack in tasty flavours- Salt & Vinegar, Salted and Grilled Beef.

Worth £32.7m RSV and growing in value +10.4 per cent, POM-BEAR brand is also a perfect choice for family shoppers. POM-BEAR contains fewer than 100 calories per pack, with 5.7m households consuming the brand every year. Household names like POM-BEAR reassure parents that they are providing their children with a healthy and great tasting product from a trusted brand.

Bold and spicy flavours are popular among the younger demographic, so retailers should cater to university students by stocking punchy and permissible products. Launched last year, popchips Hot & Spicy brings a kick to the healthier snacking segment.

The new non-HFSS product taps into the growing trend of spicy flavours to tempt shoppers and boost sales for retailers.

Nuts also offer a tasty and nutritious option. Worth £97.9m and growing in value +3.1 per cent, KP Nuts is more than four times bigger than the nearest branded competitor. As both healthier and sharing occasions continue to grow, KP Nuts sharing bags are must-stocks for retailers.

Quick snacks are still a segment that holds a huge potential for retailers. Local stores should always be on the lookout for expand their product range to keep both children and their parents curious and intrigued.

Pointing out that it is estimated that 100 million lunchboxes do not contain snacks, Steven Watt, CEO of Rose Marketing, stated that snacking section presents retailers with an opportunity to extend their product range and promote appropriate solutions to shoppers and drive additional sales alongside delivering much-needed profit.

Watt told Asian Trader, “Both the lunchbox and after-school window are a prime opportunity for retailers to cash in on this habitual snacking window. As consumers are increasingly considering their health and the implications of what they eat and what they feed their kids, retailers should be mindful that any suitable snacking items primarily focus on non-HFSS items.”

Rose Marketing offers an enticing selection of lunchbox treats. Among these are the Swizzels Drumstick Squashies Jelly with a zero HFSS score, available in two popular flavours- Original Squashies Raspberry and Apple & Cherry. These jellies come in convenient 125g pots and 80g pouches and as they do not require a chill pack are perfect for lunchboxes.

They are suitable for a range of special diets that include vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and keto. The jellies are priced at an affordable £0.89 per unit, making them an attractive choice for budget-conscious parents.

After School Munching

Apart from tiffin fillers, parents will be on the lookout for quick after-school snacks that can take care of pre-dinner hunger pangs but in a healthy way. Retailers should make sure that they have a wide range to offer.

In addition to lunchbox solutions, Rose Marketing has introduced a selection of novelty treats designed for after-school pick-ups.

Launched in July, the SLUSH PUPPiE Squeeze Pop is a unique 3-in-1 treat combining pop, gel and sherbet in iconic Blue Raspberry and Strawberry flavours which will be an attractive and affordable option for after-school snacking. At a cost-effective RRP of £1.25, it offers a competitively priced alternative to similar products on the market which are currently priced at £1.55.

Available from August, The Candy Castle Crew's Sweet Tornado Pot is a delightful blend of marshmallows and gummies, in a generous 200g cup. This vibrant treat is competitively priced at £2.49 per unit, providing excellent value for sharing. The 12-piece display unit is perfect for prominent in-store display, appealing to children and parents alike.

Rounding out the after-school novelty range and launching in August is the Mixed License Sugar-Free Mallow that features popular characters such as Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig. These naturally coloured marshmallows contain no added sugar and maintain an HFSS-compliant score of 2. Each 3.5g Mallow Surprise includes a delightful hidden element and is priced at just £1 per unit. The 18-piece display unit is ideal for placement near checkout counters to encourage impulse purchases.

To earn the trust of health-conscious parents, retailers need to up their game and bring in products that provide ample protein intake along with fun and taste. And an interesting line to consider here is nation’s favourite and bestselling meat snack Peperami.

Shaun Whelan, LSI Convenience/Wholesale and OOH Controller, said, “For kids snacking and after-school treats, independent retailers should stock tasty, convenient products that children love to eat to provide a protein kick to pep up snacking.

“What often surprises people is how fast the category is growing as protein has become mainstream with nearly one in three UK households buying meat snacks. The category has doubled in sales value over the last five years, and still has the opportunity to double again, led by Peperami which is now a £120 million brand. This is an opportunity no retailer can afford to miss.

Peperami is manufactured by Link Snacks International - the global leaders in protein meat snacks.

Parents are increasingly prioritising convenience, taste and energy when selecting snacks for their children. They want satisfying and tasty snacks which will keep them going during the day. Parents know the Peperami brand and, most importantly, their kids will eat it and so, it peps up snacking.

Whelan recommended convenience retailers to make sure that Peperami is instantly visible and within easy reach in store.

“A key to successful sales is good availability on the shelf and POS solutions which we can provide to retailers when they contact us,” he added.

Best thing here is Peperami offers a variety of pack formats. The iconic Peperami salami single sticks are ideal for on-the-go and lunchboxes. They are highly convenient to have available at home for everyone to help themselves to as an after school treat, so children and parents both win!

Peperami single sticks come in a range of four core flavours- Original, Hot, Firestick and Chorizo. Recently added, to drive convenience retailer sales, are new £1.25 price marked packs, with a promotional flash of 2 for £2, making the Peperami core stick range a must stock.

Also, just launched to meet demand for different flavours is a new BBQ flavoured stick exclusive PMP in Cash and Carries. Due to the popularity of the single serve stick, they are also sold in multi-packs of five.

Whelan told Asian Trader, “Peperami five-packs are the number one bestselling products in the whole category and are ideally merchandised in the chillers in larger convenience stores where shoppers expect to find them as a take home option.”

The second bestselling SKU in the whole category is Peperami Original Lunchbox Minis. RRP at £3.00, they come in a pack of 10, clearly targeting the lunch box snacking occasion.

Based on the huge demand, Peperami has just launched a new BBQ Lunchbox mini pack. Made with 100 per cent pork and an enjoyable mix of smoky spices, they are packed with protein and just 50 calories per 10g mini stick - making them a perfect food-to-go item in larger convenience stores.

Peperami continues to successfully innovate to meet the fast-growing demand for protein meat snacks by stretching into Chicken.

Peperami Chicken Bites come in single 50g packs ideal for convenience retailers meeting their shoppers needs for convenient, on-the-go tasty snacks to pep them up. Containing just 95kcal per 50g bag, Peperami Chicken Bites are available in two flavours - roasted and tikka.

Welan stated that Peperami will continue to drive category growth with heavyweight TV advertising featuring its iconic, instantly recognisable “Animal” which shoppers will not miss.

Parents also like to stock up on fruit snacks for their little ones as their health always remain a top priority.

Just in time for the summer holidays and ahead of the back-to-school season, BEAR, the number one brand in Kids Fruit Snacking, has added a fruity new flavour to its bestselling yoyos range- NEW BEAR Tropical yoyos.

The new Tropical launch brings a blend of delicious mango, pineapple and passion fruit to BEAR’s popular yoyo rolls. Perfect for children aged 4-10 years old looking for new exciting flavours, the innovation doesn’t just taste great, but also provides one of five a day and is high in fibre.

BEAR Tropical yoyos will help retailers excite existing fans and attract new shoppers looking for variety in the fruit snacking fixture. And, as with the rest of the yoyos range, each pack contains a popular collectable BEAR card to drive even more interest.

Jo Agnew, Marketing Director at Urban Fresh Foods Ltd, said, “Our BEAR yoyos portfolio is our bestselling range, thanks to their texture which kids love to peel apart, flavour punch and collectable cards. It’s no secret that kids can get bored easily, so launching new flavours gives parents lots of tasty options to choose from, expanding little taste buds and keeping them interested in fruit.”

“A real taste of summer, tropical flavours are absolutely booming across other grocery sectors, and in our research almost half of parents said they’re likely to purchase tropical flavour snacks. Given we’re the number one in Kids Fruit Snacking, it was only right for BEAR to be the first brand to bring it to the category.”

BEAR is going from strength to strength worth £33.2 million in value and growing +4.2 per cent, which is faster than the category.

BEAR Tropical yoyos will be available in boxes of 5 x 20g packs. Each individually wrapped pack contains 2 yoyo fruit rolls and a collectable card, at an RRP of £2.85. The new launch will also be available across convenience and wholesale from September.

Milk and Yoghurts

Talking about children’s nutrition and diet, milk is bound to come in the picture. Flavoured milk has been gaining traction since quite some time, both in younger children and teens.

Katie Chadd, Business Unit Controller at FrieslandCampina, pointed out that with the flavoured milk drinks category growing at a rapid rate of +9 per cent YoY, milk drinks have shown themselves to be a “resilient and consumer-favourite product.”

Chadd said, “To each independent retailer, flavoured milk is worth a sizeable £565m per year in value sales. As we’ve progressed through 2024, shoppers have looked for smaller indulgences and rewards such as a sweet treat or a drink, which milkshakes are perfectly positioned to cater for.”

A great option on the shelves here is YAZOO which remains the UK’s number one traditional flavoured milk brand with has 96 per cent awareness with consumers. With one in nine households purchasing a bottle in the UK, YAZOO is now a £75m brand, accounting for an additional £0.5m sales YoY.

Chadd told Asian Trader, “As a leader in the flavoured milk category, YAZOO KiDS continues to set the standard for innovation and quality. Our YAZOO KiDS product boasts a completely unique no added sugar or artificial sweeteners recipe, as well as eco-friendly and sustainable, cardboard carton packaging that is easy-to-recycle, is the number one multipack flavoured milk brand on the market.

“This status can be partly attributed to the very popular Minions partnership, which returned again last year to mark the latest movie release, driving collectability and helping the KiDS lines stand out on shelf.”

Parents will also tend to agree that YAZOO KiDS is an excellent addition to lunchboxes, providing a convenient and school-approved drink that children love.

It has unique recipe, free from added sugars and artificial sweeteners, ensures that kids get a delicious beverage without compromising on health, and in turn, parents can trust YAZOO KiDS to deliver both great taste and nutritional value.

“YAZOO’s commitment to health and quality is further validated by our participation in the ‘Better Health Food Scanner App’ campaign; the ‘Good Choice’ badge signifies that YAZOO KiDS meets high nutritional standards, offering parents peace of mind when selecting products for their children's lunchboxes,” said Chadd.

New age parents do not take children’s diets lightly. They want to make informed wise decisions while shopping so it is important that retailers too are informed and up to date about ranges with high health quotient such as yoghurts.

Yoplait is determined to feel each kid with nutrient-dense foods and make UK a country with healthy children.

Ewa Moxham, UK Head of Marketing at Yoplait told Asian Trader, “At Yoplait, we feel it is not just our responsibility to be a positive voice for children’s nutrition in the UK, but it is our duty to act. We need to educate consumers on the importance of eating nutrient-dense foods like kids’ yoghurt and to work with retailers, health organisations and policymakers to make change happen before it’s too late.”

It has emerged in a report that children’s health in the UK is facing a crisis at the moment with obesity rates alarmingly high, particularly since the pandemic. A quarter to a third of children depending on age are affected, with over a million children in danger of poor development and growth because they lack key nutrients like calcium and vitamin D – both nutrients which can be found in dairy products.

Moxham added, “Given these alarming statistics, we launched our ‘Kids’ Yoghurt and consumers – a relationship turned sour’ report earlier this year to highlight the fact that generations of kids have lost out on the positive, nutritional role of kids’ yoghurt.”

Over the last ten years, there is a decline in the kids’ yoghurt and fromage frais category which is having serious repercussions on kids’ nutrition, states the report. Even more worrying is that since the pandemic, kids are swapping nutrient rich foods such as dairy for more indulgent and nutrient-poor snack foods like biscuits, chocolate and crisps.

Parents are concerned and frantically looking for options for damage control.

Moxham said, “Parents are recognising this shift too, with nearly half of parents saying that their kids eat less healthily than they did when they were younger. It is possible that an unintended consequence of the past decade’s sugar reduction policies has caused confusion and could be encouraging children's parents and children to move away from healthy yoghurts and choose junk food instead.”

Experts suggest that an approach to incorporate dairy products into kids’ diet is through their lunchboxes as 14 per cent of all kids’ pack lunches contain yoghurt.

Convenience store retailers can utilise this opportunity and be a contributor in healthier communities by offering healthy lunchbox snacks, such as Frubes and Petits Filous which are non-HFSS. Unlike most adult yoghurts, these ranges are not just full of dairy goodness, they have also been fortified with essential nutrients such as vitamin D and calcium, which are important in supporting children’s bone health and development.

Moxham told Asian Trader, “Lunch is the leading consumption occasion for portables and to cater to this category, retailers can offer products that can have a long shelf life such as the Frubes and Petits Filous drinkables which could be kept outside the fridge for eight hours.”

This summer Frubes has brought back its successful Freeze ‘Em campaign which encourages consumers to try freezing their Frubes. This is being supported by Yoplait’s biggest investment including three limited edition packs, sampling, experiential, media, social and PR activity.

“Previously, we had worked with food waste expert Kate Hall (AKA ‘The Full Freezer’) to demonstrate what a great, healthy lunchbox snack Frubes is as it simply defrosts in the morning and is ready to eat by lunch, so is great option for retailers to stock,” Moxham said.

Prep well

To maximise sales during this exciting back to school weeks, retailers should introduce themed displays, fixtures and promotions to entice shoppers and encourage impulse purchases, which make up 70 per cent of Bagged Snacks sales.

Collins from KP Snacks said, “It’s important that retailers also continue to stock a strong core range of leading crisps, snacks and nuts products. Last year, we launched our ‘25 to Thrive’ ranging advice to provide a core recommendation of must-stock SKUs from multiple suppliers. The impartial category-wide advice has been designed to help retailers bag their share of CSN sales, with the category now worth over £4.37bn and experiencing strong growth of +8 per cent.”

By stocking the “25 to Thrive” range and positioning CSN fixtures with prominence, retailers can revive their sales, drive impulse purchases and thrive in a competitive market this summer.

The back-to-school period allows stores to leverage strategic promotions to draw in shoppers. Retailers should consider offering attractive discounts on school-related items and bundled packages for lunchbox essentials and stationery help lure budget-conscious parents.

Like last year, Premier Notay's Convenience Stores in Batley teamed up with Snappy Shopper to help fill up families’ cupboards and lunchboxes with its 1p “Back-to-School Bundle”.

Available for one day only on August 31, the 1p “Back-to-School Bundle” has been put together to provide families with a variety of essentials and treats as they gear up for the new academic year. The bundle contained six-pack of wraps, Six-pack of Walkers Crisps (6x25g), 300g jam jar, 10-pack of Jaffa Cakes and four-pack of Fruit Shoots (200ml each).

Installing eye-catching displays of back-to-school merchandise is another great idea as it simply encourages impulse buys and increases the average basket size. Increased foot traffic during the back-to-school season presents a golden opportunity for community engagement. Partnering with local schools for fundraising events can be a great idea to create the buzz and increase customer loyalty.

As summer wanes and the back-to-school season kicks into gear, local grocery stores across the country should brace for one of their most critical sales periods. This time of year presents a unique opportunity for these retailers to boost their revenues, engage with the community, and sometimes even set the tone for the rest of the year. So, good luck!