What’s your basket case?

Most retailers ended the year with a positive year-on-year rise not as high as hoped, but still a reasonable result. But at what cost to the supply base?

In this economic climate there will be demand for deep-cut promotions, which poses challenges to new product development (NPD) teams.Sometimes the financial juggling is not enough and specific development is required.

Many technologists find this type of development dull, however you have to challenge yourself and the business you are working for to think outside of the box to find innovative ways to save cost. This is not just from raw materials and formulation, but also the process, packaging and distribution any efficiency benefit will help. The success will come from NPD teams that have the breadth and depth of knowledge and are deeply integrated in the company.

The average cost of living per person is in the region of £14,000/year for urban dwellers and this rises to £18,600/year for rural folk. With wages not increasing at the same pace and unemployment rising people are looking to cut back on spending. Luxury items are the first to be hit however general thriftiness in all areas of life are impacted.

As a consumer, I've become more watchful of what I buy and when. If I see deep-cut offers I tend to buy from these, with the fresh produce I'll go for the basic, lower priced items and for ambient goods it's deals all the way. The freezer used to be for ice cubes and ice cream but it's come into its own for storing the surplus of my big batch cooking sessions and excess bulk buy items.

I've been fortunate not to have had to sacrifice anything specific from my weekly shop, although I note that meat protein has been reduced and waste is less. What's your basket drop out?

Becky Sparks is director and food technologist at Sparkling Innovation.