Richard Lomax on why Graze, the early leader of the healthy snacking boom, is now reportedly being offloaded by Unilever. Another lesson in brand relevance, distinctiveness and emotional connection.
Unilever is reportedly looking to offload Graze, a brand once seen as a trailblazer in the healthy snacking revolution. A surprising move, given that healthy snacking market trends show the UK’s appetite for healthier snacks is bigger than ever? So, what went wrong?
The issue isn’t the market, it must be the brand. In a category where innovation is constant and consumer expectations have shifted, their first mover advantage has faded. Graze may have helped pioneer the category but they have been overtaken by brands such as Grenade, Deliciously Ella, Bear and Nakd. Each has a clearer focus and a sharper sense of what consumers want their snacks to do. As my colleague Andrew recently observed at Food Matters Live, functional benefits have experienced a significant surge in recent years.
Graze had a clear proposition of portion controlled snacks with natural ingredients which once felt modern, fresh and tapped into consumer need for health-conscious snacks. But the category has evolved toward function first snacking and Graze’s broader positioning has started to feel vague.
Today’s healthy snack brands don’t just promise ‘better for you’, they deliver specific outcomes. Whether that’s build muscle, stay full, boost energy or support gut health, brands like Grenade, Bear and Deliciously Ella offer consumers clear functional benefits. Graze by contrast, has ended up in the middle, not indulgent and not specialist but still relatively expensive.
This kind of shift doesn’t usually happen overnight. In fact, it’s likely that Graze’s struggles were visible earlier and could have been picked up with the right research. Brand health tracking could have shown declining relevance and differentiation; U&A research could have revealed consumers moving towards function first needs. Perceptual mapping could have shown Graze they were being outflanked by challenger brands with bolder positioning.
The implications for market research
If your brand feels stuck, squeezed or you want to be aware of any threats on the horizon, here are three ways research can help you check you’re still relevant:
- Audit brand health beyond awareness – track relevance, distinctiveness and emotional connection. Don’t just ask if people know you, ask if they still need you.
- Refresh your U&A work – understand what benefits consumers are looking for now, their needs and behaviours are changing constantly!
- Map the demand moments, not just the market – people don’t shop fixed categories, they buy to solve problems. Map occasions, triggers and goals to find out where you sit and where you can play.
Even in a growing category, brands lose ground if they stop solving the right problems. Research helps you spot the shift before it has a terminal impact on sales. Talk to us about a brand health check before your rivals do.
