Food and drink brands ranked most valuable in UK

In a list, published by business consultancy BrandZ, dominated by communications and tech giants – Vodafone (1^st​), British Telecom (4^th​) – and banking firms – HSBC (2^nd​) and Barclays (9^th​) – Unilever-owned Lipton snagged eighth position with a value of $8.6bn (£6.5bn).

The next food and drink brand to make the list was Mondelēz-owned Cadbury, clocking in with a value of $3.8bn, taking the 18^th​ spot in the rankings and dropping one place from last year.

Reformulated products​

Cadbury was one of many confectionery brands to have reformulated its products this year in light of a number of government initiatives to cut down on childhood obesity.

Taking the 36^th​ spot on BrandZ’s list of the 75 most valuable brands in the UK was vertically integrated supermarket Morrisons. While the company’s value grew from last year, up 3.4% to $1.9bn (£1.44bn), it dropped one place in the list.

The fourth food and drink brand to make the list was Nestlé’s Kit Kat, raking in a value of $1.58bn (£1.19bn) and making its way to position 45. The chocolate bar, which has been in the news in recent months following a fierce legal battle with Mondelēz over its shape, did drop three places from 2017 though.

New entry​

The last food and drink brand to make it into the top 75 list was BrewDog, entering for the first time in 65^th​ position. The independent brewery has made a name for itself in recent years through its extensive use of crowdfunding campaigns and making it onto the Sunday Times​ ​Virgin Fast Track 100 list last year.​​

Meanwhile, in June, coffee manufacturer Lincoln & York topped this year’s league table​​ of medium-sized businesses with the fastest-growing international sales, according to the Sunday Times​ HSBC International Track 200.