Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
More than one in four households purchased a small food prep appliance last year, and people are paying more for them.
According to the latest figures from GfK, food prep sales in 2012 exceeded 1.5m units, and whilst this is a fall from 2011 the average price of appliances has grown 7%, resulting in value remaining at £55.5m. More than a fifth of products selling made up around 80% of value.
GfK says this is not surprising given the concentration of household names expanding their offer over the past few years and wanting to increase their share of the marketplace.
December 2012 saw kitchen machines take an increasing share of trade, accounting for nearly 28% of the food prep category by value. But choppers saw the most dramatic increase, doubling their share of the market compared to the previous year.
The growing attraction of these products is fostered by the wider array of functions offered – not only chopping, but also grinding, dicing, mincing and shredding, creating a more compact food processor for kitchen surfaces.
GfK attributes the strength of the category to the explosion of television cookery shows and the move towards a healthier, “buy it fresh” approach to eating.
