Sales of Heinz Baked Beans slump as cash-strapped families look for cheaper supermarket alternatives – but how much could you save by swapping to an own brand label?
- Sales of Heinz Beanz have plunged 18 per cent as prices rose by 38 per cent
- Supermarket alternatives now cost three times less than the household name
Shoppers are canning Heinz’s famous baked beans in favour of supermarket’s own-brand versions in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
The firm’s goods have long been a staple in kitchen cupboards in Britain, but rising prices – the cost of a tin of Beanz has gone up by 38 per cent and lead to a spat with supermarkets – has seen sales plunge.
Heinz has blamed production costs for the increase, including soaring energy bills, the price of transporting goods and rising wages for workers.
Now shoppers are turning to supermarkets own-brand baked beans as alternatives, which can cost up to three times less than those produced by the American firm.
Figures show that while a 415g tin of Heinz Beanz costs £1.40, many supermarket brands offer similar sized cans for 50p or less.
Price rises now mean that a tin of Heinz Beanz (left) costs £1.40 while a can of Sainsbury’s own-brand baked beans (right) costs 44p
According to an analysis by Kantar, shoppers are increasingly turning to cheaper options in a bid to save money amid rising home and energy bills, with Heinz sales dropping by 18 per cent.
The squeeze on household budgets had ‘forced consumers to monitor their spending and opt for cheaper options’, Kantar category analyst Cameron Bailey told trade magazine The Grocer.
Significant price hikes in ambient brands had further driven downtrading, Mr Bailey added.
He added: ‘Higher interest rates and increased cost of production are being passed on to the consumer.’
Supermarkets have been using their financial muscle to hold down prices, with most having them around three times cheaper than Heinz.
A 415g tin of Heinz Beanz will set back shoppers £1.40, while a 420g can of Lidl’s own-brand baked beans costs 45p – a whopping 95p less.
READ MORE HERE: The list of supermarkets where food prices are rising fastest
Tesco’s own-brand baked beans, which are also 420g, will set you back 50p – the same price as Asda’s 410g beans.
A 410g tin of Aldi beans costs 47p, while a can of Morrisons beans the same size costs 49p.
Sainsbury’s baked beans were the cheapest of the big supermarkets costing 44p, although these are slightly smaller at 400g.
The average price per pack in branded canned & ambient is up 21.6 per cent to £1.36, while own label is 8.4 per cent pricier at an average of just 64p per unit.
Branded baked beans have registered the highest price rises. With the average cost per pack up 37.8 per cent, they are four times as expensive as own label alternatives. At the same time, volumes are down 24.3 per cent.
The Grocer said it is a similar story in canned pasta and ambient soup. They are 30.9 per cent and 30.6 per cent pricier respectively, while unit sales are down 20.1 per cent and 19 per cent.
Branded price rises have proved controversial – most notably a pricing spat between Heinz and Tesco last summer saw the brand’s baked beans and other SKUs temporarily pulled from shelves.
Nevertheless, Heinz went to ‘great lengths to offer good value for money without compromising on quality and taste,’ insisted a spokeswoman for the brand.
Similarly, Princes, Dolmio and Batchelors have also seen value growth undercut by volume declines.
Princes Group brand marketing director Jeremy Gibson said volumes had been ‘impacted by retailers’ moves to reduce overall category space and simplify ranges’.
Food essentials, including some brands of cheddar, white bread, porridge and sausages, are up by as much as 80 per cent in a year with budget ranges showing the biggest rises
Retail analysis firm Kantar provided its latest UK grocery market share figures on March 28
Near-record inflation has seen the price of many goods on the shelves rocket in price in recent months, with the cost of staples such as cheddar cheese, white bread and porridge oats have soared by nearly 18 per cent, according to consumer group Which?.
Overall inflation on food and drink at supermarkets continued to rise in March to 17.2 per cent, up from 16.5 per cent the month before – while cheddar cheese prices increased by an average 28.3 per cent across eight major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose – compared to a year ago, the watchdog found.
Lidl and Aldi are top of the list, with inflation rates well ahead of Morrisons and Asda (both 18 per cent), Sainsbury’s (15 per cent), Tesco and Waitrose (14 per cent) and Ocado (11 per cent).
Researchers looked at 26,242 products across eight major supermarkets for the study, which did not include two other major retailers, Iceland and Co-Op.
But they also pointed out that inflation was not a measure of absolute price – with Aldi and Lidl having the lowest prices. It is also understood that Lidl is contesting the figures from Which? and has not been sent the full dataset.
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