Seeds of Change for UK Gardening Market

It may perhaps come as a surprise to see that following a strong season across most UK Gardening categories, many of which have shown double digit volume and value growth, that Lawn Seed continues to suffer volume declines. Isolating the Jan – Sept period in 2009 against the same period 2008, the category has seen 5% volume declines, however value growth has been synonymous with other categories (+12.5%), a result of an 18.5% price increase across all brands.

Looking at the market dynamics, it’s fair to expect the presence of branded products to be similar to Lawn Fertilisers, however this is not the case looking at Jan – Sept 2009, 70% of the Lawn Seed category’s volume came through retailer Own Label products. Conversely in Lawn Fertilisers, branded products account for 73% of the market volume. Within Lawn Fertilisers, it’s branded products that have driven category volume growth as Own Label has suffered strong declines.

The growth within Lawn Fertilisers can be attributed to increased activity from brands within the category. New product development has driven, as expected value increases, an additional benefit being strong volume growth.

So, what does the Lawn Seed category require in order to develop strong Volume growth as we move out of 2009, and move in 2010? Whether it be a stronger branded presence, or continued Own Label dominance, the category clearly needs reviving as price increases will only grow the category so far. The importance of Multipurpose products to the category has continued a steady decline throughout 2009 as consumers continue to favour task specific products such as Shade and Drought +9%* and Lawn Repair products +23%**.

* Jan-Sept 2009 Vs 2008 sales volume
** Jan-Sept 2009 Vs 2008 sales value