Coca-Cola still Ireland’s biggest-selling brand as Tayto moves up to third

Coca-Cola has retained the top spot in the latest annual edition of the Checkout Top 100 Brands list, with the soft-drinks company keeping its traditional fizz ahead of second-placed Cadbury Dairy Milk. This is the 16th consecutive year that Coke has been the biggest seller in the Irish market.

Irish crisp maker Tayto moved up three places to third, according to the rankings, which are produced by the grocery retail magazine in association with research firm Nielsen. Energy drink Lucozade was fourth, up from fifth in 2019. Brennans bread rounded out the top five, while Avonmore, 7Up, Jacobs, Extra and Red Bull completed the top 10.

Two brands that leaped 14 places in the list were Fitzgeralds Family Bakery, which climbed from 90 to 76, and energy drink Monster, which rose from 25th to number 11. Other notable movers included Carroll's of Tullamore, up to 37 from 48, Brady Family, up to 28 from 36, and yoghurt brand Glenisk, up to 15 from 24.

There were seven new entries to the list for 2020: Nestlé Aero, Knorr stock and gravy mixes, Zip, Heinz tomato ketchup, Kenco instant coffee, Birds Eye (fish) and mixer range Schweppes.

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“The professionalism and kindness of retailers and their teams since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic is something that is now embedded in the collective psyche of shoppers and is likely to stay with us for many years to come,” Checkout editor Maev Martin said.

“Irish shoppers have responded to the supreme effort put in by the nation’s retailers and fast-moving consumer goods brands over the past six months by remaining loyal and continuing to buy Irish.”

The list is based on branded value sales across the Irish grocery sector. In compiling the report, Nielsen measures the sales performance of more than 5,000 brands from more than 200 product classes.

Simple treats

"The pandemic was a catalyst for major consumer behaviour shifts. With so much uncertainty and health worries, shoppers turned to well-known and trusted brands and, especially, local home-grown Irish brands as they sought greater assurances on the safety, quality and supply chain of their grocery products," said Nielsen Ireland's Karen Mooney.

“While many Irish shoppers have faced great economic uncertainty as well, we can see that they are still willing to spend on those trusted products, and the top five brands from this year’s list shows that Irish shoppers were looking for simple treats such as chocolate, crisps, fizzy drinks and bread to get them through.”