Affluent consumers prefer branded margarine over supermarket brands

While supermarket house brand margarine has proven popular with consumers, higher-income consumers are steadfastly sticking to their preferred brands, new research from Roy Morgan shows.

More than half of all grocery buyers purchased margarine in an average four-week period in the year to March 2014, the research firm found. However, just which grocery buyers were purchasing margarine is interesting. Those from households earning less than $60,000 per year were more likely to buy margarine (59%) than those in households earning between $60,000 and $120,000 (51%) and $120,000 or more (48%).

Flora and Meadow Lea are still the most popular brands, with 16% and 11% of grocery buyers respectively purchasing them in an average month. Supermarket brands are the third most popular, with 9% of grocery shoppers opting for these. Roy Morgan says that, while Flora and Meadow Lea are popular across all income groups, supermarket groups are markedly less popular among the highest household income group.

In households earning less than $60,000 per year, 12% of grocery buyers purchased supermarket brand margarine, compared to 10% in households earning between $60,000 and $120,000. Just 6% of grocery buyers from households earning $120,000 or more purchased supermarket brand margarine in an average four-week period.

“Supermarket brands have earned a place in the Australian shopper’s basket for a large number of food items, and margarine is no exception,” said Angela Smith, group account manager - consumer products, Roy Morgan Research.

“Though our data doesn’t tell us the reason for the popularity of supermarket brand margarine, it could very well be due to their lower price - as indicated by their high penetration among low-income groups. Shoppers from higher-income households tend to prefer butter (which tends to be more expensive).”

Smith says the consumers most likely to purchase margarine are those who are retired, unemployed or working in low-paying jobs, living in blue-collar suburbs or regional areas.