A revolution is happening in eating habits across Europe and sandwiches are at the leading edge of this change. In the United Kingdom we have already seen this with sales of sandwiches soaring over the last five years to outstrip sales of all other ‘fast food’ sectors. In the early 1990s, consumers spent less than £1bn on sandwiches. By 1998 this had risen to £2.6bn and by this year it is expected that sales of sandwiches in the UK will be worth £3.5bn.
Sandwiches in the UK account for around 42 per cent of all fast food sales. Moreover, consumers are demanding better and better quality for which they are prepared to spend premium prices.
But the UK is not alone in this. The seeds of the same revolution can be found in other countries across Europe, and even around the world. In France, for instance, there are now a growing number of sandwich factories and an ever-increasing choice of sandwiches on sale in retail outlets.
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One factor that has held back this development to date has been the limited availability of chilled distribution in Europe. In Britain, this was to an extent developed try an entrepreneurial sandwich industry with small manufacturers setting up their own chilled distribution rounds regionally to serve their factories.
In France, and other European countries, this infrastructure has been more complicated to put in place, partly because of the more scattered population centres. To get started, this has meant that the first manufactured sandwiches seen by most European consumers have been extended shelf-life products which have been specifically developed and packaged to stay on the shelf for long periods, and thus minimise wastage.
There are still some sandwiches to be found in Europe with a 30 day shelf life. In the UK the shelf-life is typically two days and, because of this, many more and fresher ingredients can be used.
The dilemma has been how to provide consumers with a fresh and appetising sandwich without the chilled distribution infrastructure. Understandably, retailers have been rather reticent about stocking short shelf-life products, without the assurance of a reliable regular supply source, and consumers have tended to look at the longer shelf-life products as being rather unattractive and poor value for money and, frankly, not that appetising.
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By GlobalDataHowever, this is now changing. New packaging technology is allowing producers to make better products with an extended life and distribution is also developing. As a result retailers are becoming more confident about developing fresh sandwich ranges – and consumers are beginning to discover what the sandwich industry really can offer.
Of course, the manufactured sandwich is only a part of the market. In the UK, packaged (or industrial) sandwiches account for only about 43 per cent of the market. However, they have played an important role in opening up the market generally.
It was Marks & Spencer’s innovative approach in launching packaged sandwiches in the early 1980s that set the market alight. As others followed, and consumers started to show strong interest in sandwiches, that development carried through into the High Street with an ever growing number of sandwich bars opening, the best known of which is probably Pret a Manger. Nevertheless, the market in the UK is still dominated by retail or supermarket brands in terms of consumer awareness.
