Fox’s Burtons Companies (FBC UK) has identified a £5.6m sales opportunity for convenience stores within the ‘sweet snacking mini biscuits’ segment as it is seeing sustained growth.

Within the £1.7bn of UK sweet biscuit sales in supermarkets and convenience stores last year, minis are the fastest-growing segment, gaining 17% of volume growth (£59.6m). However, just 2.9% of mini biscuit sales are from impulse outlets, according to exclusive research by the supplier.

The research shows a £5.6m-per-year sales opportunity for convenience retailers if they tap into shopper missions for these products.

The supplier’s range has been a key part of segment growth, with Maryland Mini Cookies, Party Rings Minis and Jammie Dodgers Minis driving 79% of mini biscuits growth in 2022.

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Maryland Minis’ sales grew by 24% to £15.7m, Party Rings Minis hit £7.2m, a growth of 29%, while Jammie Dodgers Minis grew by 21%, with more than £500,000 coming from Choccie Dodgers Minis.

Nearly a quarter of mini biscuit occasions were due to their convenience and being easy to prepare, clean up or enjoy on the go. The number of people consuming mini sweet biscuits in the mornings has risen in the past 12 months, growing from 15.8% of occasions in 2021 to almost 25% last year.

Colin Taylor, trade marketing director at FBC UK, said: “The growth in Minis is one of the big success stories in sweet biscuits over the last year, but so far it has been larger stores that have benefitted the most. We’d really like to see this change and put these highly convenient, small-portion products in front of shoppers in stores that are close to home, where there is a genuine need to support impulse sales and distress purchases.

“We believe this category can support several million pounds of additional sales to the convenience trade every year.”

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