Butter and Spreads in Greece

2021 DEVELOPMENTS

More time spent at home stimulates sales of butter used in home cooking and baking

Sales of butter are expected to rise in 2021 in a continuation of a trend seen in 2020 stimulated by various lockdowns and considerably more time spent at home as consumers endeavoured to avoid virus transmission. More consumers are engaging in home cooking and baking with many such recipes featuring butter as an ingredient.

Growing demand for high quality as well as local butter products

Consumers are expected to continue demanding higher quality butter and spreads products in 2021. Despite reduced disposable incomes since the COVID-19 outbreak, Greek consumers are likely to continue to be willing to purchase more expensive, higher quality butter products, believing that low prices indicate a lower quality.

Growing popularity of functional and fortified butter and spreads as well as products made from goat milk in response to the health and wellness trend

Functional and fortified butter and spreads are also expected to see an increase in popularity in 2021, with new product launches. For example, the popular Elais margarine continues to be heavily marketed as high in vitamins and omega-3 and free-from artificial preservatives.

PROSPECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Steady positive growth for butter including no salt and reduced fat due to the health and wellness trend

Butter is expected to continue to see the best performance into the forecast period, with butter containing less fat and no salt becoming increasingly popular, as consumers will look for ways to improve their health. This trend will also be stimulated by organisations such as WHO, which will encourage a 30% reduction in average human salt intake by 2025.

More radical innovations characterise the category over the forecast period including vegan and nut-based spreads as well as lactose-free offerings

More products are expected to be added to margarine and spreads into the forecast period. These are likely to be spreads made from a mixture of butter and margarine, such as Minerva’s launch of Fast Light with Butter, although there are also more radical innovations.

More sophisticated packaging influences consumers’ brand choice

Butter packaging is set to play an important role in the market. The weight of the product or the packaging format will increasingly influence consumer choice of brand.