What proportion of your business goes through the wholesale trade?

The amount of the Weetabix business that goes through wholesale has grown by 21% in the past two years. Wholesale is increasingly important for us and we are committed to working closely with cash & carries and delivered wholesalers to continue to grow this.

How are you looking to develop your business through the wholesale trade?

We want to continue to build relationships. For us it’s about suppliers, manufacturers and wholesalers sharing best practice. One area that we are trying to grow is a collaborative approach to our planning, moving a 6/12/18-month plan to a two-year rolling plan.

Cash & carries should focus on a core range of best-sellers. They should also use off-shelf activity, including PoS, supported by strong promotional offers that link with advertising. We currently have a ‘Weetabuddies’ marketing campaign running in depot aligned to our consumer marketing activity, and this is proving particularly effective.

Keeping on top of NPD is crucial. We see innovation at the forefront of growth. Some of our most recent launches are in major growth; Weetabix On the Go, for example, is now worth £15.2 million, up 67% year on year, and has a 76% share of the market (Nielsen).

Staying up-to-date with shopper trends and offering those products
currently in high demand is another way for wholesalers to improve sales. Protein cereals form the fastest growing segment, up by 7.3% due to a 40% increase in consumers looking to add more protein to their diet. Weetabix has a 54% share of this market (Nielsen), and our Protein biscuits recently won a 2017 Product of the Year award, as voted by more than 12,000 households.

Cross-category promotion is effective in retail but remains challenging in depot, but if there is an opportunity to dual site then do so. Our ‘Weetabuddies’ campaign encourages consumers to add real fruit to Weetabix, so we encourage cash & carries to place a free-standing display unit (FSDU) near fresh fruit.

Stock a core range, including all sub categories, and innovation like Weetabix Protein; ensure your offering includes PMPs; stock the appropriate pack sizes for your customer needs – for example, single households are on the up, so the Weetabix 12-pack is a great SKU to have in your range; and use our category management advice to reflect retailers’ in-store planograms for ease of shopping.