Irish brands make up 44% of Ireland’s top 50 favourite brands of 2023.
The data is based on the Checkout Top 100 Brands publication, which is produced in association with NIQ Ireland.
Tayto, which is ranked third in the Top 100 Brands ranking, takes the lead as Ireland’s favourite home-grown brand on the list.
Tayto is also the highest non-beverage brand on the list.
Published every August, the Checkout Top 100 Brands is based on branded value sales across the Irish grocery sector.
Now in its 19th edition, it is the most accurate barometer of the biggest-selling brands in the marketplace.
In compiling the report, NIQ Ireland measures the sales performance of over 5,000 brands from over 200 product classes.
A full edition of the magazine is available for subscribers.
Staples
Two of the three Irish brands in the top ten – Avonmore and Brennans – represent the staple products therein.
With beverages and confectionery making up the rest of the top ten brands, Irish consumers have demonstrated that, for their staples, they don’t want to venture far from home.
Further down the list is a similar story, with brands such as Ballygowan, Irish Pride and Brady Family sitting between popular international drink, confectionery and biscuit brands.
While brands such as Coca-Cola, Pringles and Cadbury’s Dairy Milk take the lead, with strong label recognition and brand loyalty, the Irish contenders prove that local is best when shoppers are filling up their fridges and cupboards.
International Hits
A number of Irish brands on the list are well recognised abroad.
Kerrygold, the number-one butter brand in Germany and number-one imported brand in the US, sits comfortably in the number-43 spot.
VITHIT, a popular mineral drink that is sold across 13 countries, was set up by Irish founder Gary Lavin.
The drink lands at number 32 on the list, above recognisable brands Volvic and Fanta.
Lavin said in February 2023 that he expected revenue for the brand to rise by 30-40% that year, with the drink launching in the Australian market.
Founded in 2008, VITHIT’s popularity at home and abroad proves Irish brands’ ability to break into the competitive international market.
Home Comforts
The data points to a trend in the marketing of Irish brands over the years.
There is a fondness for home through taste and recognition.
Tayto’s aptly named ‘True Taste of Home’ campaign focused on a familiar scene for many Irish people: greeting loved ones at the airport.
The filmed ad shows parents anxiously awaiting the return of their daughter.
When she arrives, they run to embrace her, and she runs past them to embrace Mr Tayto.
The ad humorously illustrates the familiarity of the brand, comparing it to the emotion of returning home.
The Ipsos B&A Acumen panel surveyed 150 grocery shoppers on behalf of Checkout magazine and found that Tayto was the most-missed brand by the Irish diaspora, with 49% of those surveyed saying that they missed the brand ‘a lot’ while abroad.
Irish brands support home as well.
In 2018, recent BAFTA nominee Paul Mescal made his screen debut in an ad for the Top 100 Brands’ number-27 brand, Denny.
The brand’s – and the actor’s – continued popularity reflect the consumer mindset: Irish is best.
