The most comprehensive study yet of the UK’s burgeoning FMCG industry the Challenger 50 FMCG 2025 has identified which brands are revitalising the UK’s FMCG industry and how they are doing it.
With innovative new food, beverage and household products accounting for a growing share of our shopping baskets* and with domestic UK brands making an increasingly important contribution to economic growth, the Challenger 50 FMCG 2025 report launched by challenger brand media agency MNC has found that independent companies are turning the UK’s FMCG sector upside down and outperforming established players and supermarket own-label products.
The research combines data and analysis from MNC, Tracksuit, NielsenIQ and Beauhurst with FMCG challenger brands being defined as having less than £100M in Retail Sales Value (RSV) in the UK and at least 20% growth year-on-year for at least two years in a row.
Brands that matched these criteria were then rated according to performance across sales value, percentage growth over a two-year period, weighted distribution*, the year founded, and prompted awareness* (see detailed methodology below). Brands were ranked by points against each metric, with the highest receiving 50 points and the lowest scoring one point. These scores were added together then aggregated to provide a final overall index ranking.
Who are the top FMCG challengers
The top performing brand with the highest index score across all metrics was found to be ultra-premium British vodka AU Vodka founded by school friends Charlie Morgan and Jackson Quinn from Swansea in Wales, followed by Jason’s Sourdough, the family business founded by Jason Geary which has shown stellar YoY sales growth. Ranked third hottest challenger was Biotiful Gut Health, the Kefir yogurt and milk brand founded by Natasha Bowes and now owned by Müller after being acquired in the last 12 months.
Challenger 50 FMCG 2025 brands demonstrated a rate of growth far in excess of the rest of the industry with an average YoY sales growth rate of 48.9%, compared to just 3.4% in the rest of the industry combined.
The study found that entrepreneurial ambition is critical to FMCG innovation and business growth with more than half (54%) of the Challenger 50 FMCG 2025 being independent companies, compared to 30% which are owned by large enterprises, 12% backed by private equity, and 4% owned by publicly traded companies. However, 95% of the top 50 brands were formerly independent, having been started by entrepreneurs before acquisition – three of them Biotiful, Shaken Udder and Merchant Gourmet in the last 12 months.
The research also suggests that these innovative new brands are winning over consumers by ‘premiumising’ and improving existing FMCG categories or by creating entirely new sub-categories. This implies a strong desire amongst consumers for change. The study found:
- 24% of the businesses are B Corp
- 38% have at least one female founder (vs 19% of companies nationally)
- 76% are British (66% English, 6%, N Irish, 4% Welsh)
- 88% of the brands would be considered ‘clean label’ or non-UPF*
- 92% are food and beverage products, 4% pet-related and 4% household products
MNC Director and former FMCG brand founder, Joe Benn, said: “Innovative independent FMCG companies are grabbing our attention like never before and they have become the drivers of growth within an industry that is increasingly significant to the wider economy. We’ve pulled together multiple, transparent sources of data and analysis from Tracksuit, NielsenIQ and Beauhurst to understand how and why, making the Challenger 50 FMCG 2025 from MNC, the most comprehensive study into which FMCG brands are succeeding in the UK.
“Our study indicates that despite the cost-of-living crisis, consumers are looking for micro moments of pleasure and are voting for innovation with their wallets. All of the brands in the top 50 offer genuine differentiation or improvement on what’s gone before. You can also see that the best legacy businesses are acquiring and cultivating challenger brands as a means to drive growth.”
Other notable Challenger 50 FMCG 2025 performers
The brand with the strongest sales growth (one of the five key metrics of success) is BuzzBallz the US-based canned cocktail brand, one of the four US-origin challengers in the top 50. The brand with the best B Corp score is Cook, the Kent-based company founded in 1997 by Edward Perry and Dale Penfold.
Meanwhile, the brand with the best brand metrics* is Filippo Berio the Italian olive oil company which is one of the oldest brands categorized as a challenger. The brand that was ranked the tastiest* is Vadasz Deli and Challenger 50 FMCG ranked the most premium was Daylesford Organics.
The top disruptor brands such as Heck Foods, Dash Water and TRIP Drinks grew their equity quickly through distinctive branding, as well as simple and memorable propositions such as wonky fruit + no sugar. Tracksuit’s Head of Insights, Leanne Tomasevic said “Early presence in high-signal spaces, combined with the ability to turn commoditised categories into lifestyle choices, has allowed these brands to create distinctive brand worlds that truly stand apart.”
The study found brands that are disrupting existing large household staple categories for example Jason’s Sourdough, St Ewe, Merchant Gourmet have huge headroom for growth by taking more and more share from the incumbents. Meanwhile, other brands are growing categories from scratch for example Moju, Biotiful Gut Health and Vita Coco.
What else does the Challenger 50 FMCG 2025 reveal?
The full Challenger 50 FMCG 2025 report can be accessed here. It explores how:
- Brits love Italian brands right now.
- Brands disrupting staple categories are really having a moment.
- If you’re going to disrupt the booze space, you need true innovation.
- Women are a powerful force in FMCG innovation: 38% have at least one female founder.
- Which brands should invest in marketing over distribution.
- Where they come from – FMCG innovation from the UK’s regions and beyond.
- Analysis of Prompted and Adjusted Awareness, Retail Sales Value, Weighted Distribution Growth YoY, Average Price per Sales Unit Price vs. Premium Perception, Price vs. Value for Money.
