Noodles, coffee still fastest-selling consumer goods in Philippines

MANILA  -Food and beverage products such as noodles and coffee continued to be the fastest selling, cheap consumer goods among Filipinos, with many staple brands like Lucky Me, Nescafe and Kopiko maintaining a strong local market presence.

This is according to the 2023 Brand Footprint Report of global data, insights and consulting company Kantar, which tracked the spending patterns of 5,000 households on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) over a period of 12 months, which ended in October 2022.

Instant noodle brand Lucky Me retained its top spot as the most bought brand during the period, with 98.9 percent of local households -equivalent to 27.4 million shoppers- buying the product.

The report said Lucky Me also scored a total of 911 million Consumer Reach Points (CRP), the measuring index used by Kantar in determining brand penetration. CRP takes into account the number of households in a country, the percentage of households buying the brand and the number of interactions with such brand across categories.

Coming in second and third places are coffee brands Nescafé and Kopiko, garnering a CRP of 688 and 62, respectively. In fourth place with 585 CRP is condiment brand Silver Swan, while soft drinks brand Coca-Cola completed the top five in the list with 488 CRP.

Other popular brands that made it to the top 10 brands are Nestle’s Bear Brand milk, Surf laundry detergent, Maggi noodles, Great Taste coffee and Datu Puti vinegar.

Bea Coronel, client manager at the Worldpanel Division of Kantar Philippines, said that Filipinos have been spending more for their FMCG needs, especially in 2022 when the world emerged from the pandemic and lifestyle started to return to normal.

“There is now a higher demand for FMCG and companies must be able to capitalize on that split second when shoppers decide and choose one brand over another,” said Coronel.

Amid inflation troubles, the Kantar executive said further that 61 percent of brands in the country, whether big or small, were still growing.

“It is interesting to note, however, that 57 percent of small brands, or those brands that are reaching less than 10 percent of Filipino shoppers, have enjoyed growth in the past year,” Coronel said.

Kantar said companies should leverage their brands ensuring more presence and categories to maintain a constant level of market penetration.