‘Coca-Cola remains most-chosen brand on planet’

Coca-Cola remains the most-chosen brand on the planet, purchased 6.6 billion times globally during the year, up by 3 percent year-on-year, based on take-home grocery sales, claims a new report.

According to annual Brand Footprint study by Kantar, Colgate remains the second most chosen brand, and is the brand which is present in most households with 57.3 percent of the world buying at least once per year. 

Close-Up and Cheetos are the latest brands to join the ‘one billion’ club, reaching the milestone of being purchased more than one billion times in the year. Twenty-eight brands have now reached this milestone, up from sixteen in 2012.

After a one year break, Maggi returns to top three most-chosen brands, being purchased 3.4 billion times, up 11 percent year-on-year and saw the biggest global penetration increase (1 percent) of any brand. 

In 2021, households around the world made 416 billion brand choices, growing 1.4 percent vs 2020. The global top 10 brands represented 7.4 percent of all purchases, (growing 3.2 percent year-on-year), while the global top 50 represented 17.2pecrent (growing 1.8 percent year-on-year).

Red Bull saw the biggest CRP gain outside of the top 50 brands, with a +16 percent increase in CRPs, which equates to being chosen 77M more times, the joint 10th biggest increase seen globally and moved up 13 places in the rankings to 65th. This strong performance is a continuation of growth it has seen for the last four years, increasing CRPs by 170M since 2017.

Discussing success of the top 10 biggest FMCG brands Guillaume Bacuvier, CEO of Kantar’s Worldpanel division said, “the biggest brands continued to show their strength and resilience in 2021 outperforming the rest of the branded FMCG market. This isn’t a one-off either. Over the last decade they have increased their global reach by 11 percent, compared to 8 percent for the Top 50 as a whole.

“To become a global powerhouse, brands need to achieve some increasingly difficult goals. Global penetration rate of at least 30 percent is required to join the global top 10 brands, alongside a purchase frequency of at least six times per year per household.”

Commenting on this year’s study Benjamin Cawthray, global thought leadership director, Worldpanel Division, Kantar, revealed that the number of brands shoppers buy has remained consistent over the decade with the average household choosing just 55. The challenge is how to enter a shopper’s portfolio which changes every year.