1 Mar

Trendswatch | New Business Insight From The Past Week

Well things are looking up, as all of us have the 21^st of June circled in our diaries, giving us three months to get ready for the most epic night out of our lives – that is, if everything goes according to plan…

In the meantime, here’s our weekly trend report to keep you entertained. This week, I will be shining a light on the hottest brands of the moment. I will be talking Huel, Aldi and asking what on earth are Little Moons?

Huel

By now all of us have heard of the sports nutrition brand Huel. The brand has become hugely popular over the last few years, especially with fitness fanatics. However, it is now gaining wider recognition, thanks to its newly introduced hot and savoury meal options.

Huel successfully caught onto the meal-delivery trend, and is now reaping the benefits, having just announced sales of £99m, up from £36m last year! I predict that over the next few months we will start to see more brands jumping on the meal-delivery bandwagon – especially those within the health and fitness sector.

Aldi

Aldi is now officially the UK’s top supermarket, according to the annual Which? survey of more than 3,000 members of the public.

In the survey, customers were asked to rate their shopping experience, including appearance, layout, quality of produce, availability of online delivery slots and value for money.

Over the last few years, Aldi has developed a huge cult following, so much so that some fans have created online platforms to share tips and tricks for how to shop there!

To celebrate Aldi’s recent success, here’s 5 things you may not know about the supermarket:

The reason for the fast check-outs. Why are Aldi’s check-outs faster than any other supermarket? Well, instead of just one bar code on each item, most products sold at Aldi have multiple bar codes printed around the packaging, making the swiping a much quicker process. Genius!
Aldi comprises two corporations. The company was founded by two German brothers, who eventually decided that they no longer agreed on well…anything. Rather than dissolving the company or having one buy the other out, they came up with a rather unique solution. They split the company into two distinctly different halves, Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud. Each one is operated as a company in and of itself, merely sharing the Aldi name. Aldi Sud is responsible for the UK stores.
Aldi’s reputation is dependent on where it is operating. It’s almost comical how much its reputation can vary from one country to the next. In places like Europe, it is often considered one of the best supermarkets around, although that can change a lot from one country to the next. On the other hand, people in other countries view them as a place to shop when you can’t afford to shop anywhere else.
Aldi recently launched a wine school. The supermarket chain is well known for its award-winning wine selection, with prices far cheaper than its rivals and its quality seeing it awarded Drinks Retailer of the Year 2020. And if that wasn’t enough, it has just launched its very own free wine school. Following on from the success of Aldi’s 2019 Aldiploma, a series of six free online modules, Aldi’s Wine School will launch with modules seven and eight; ‘A Guide to New World Wines’, which explores new up and coming wine regions, and a ‘Wine and Food Matching’ masterclass – perfect for those simply looking for the best wine to match their dinners.
Aldi believes that access to affordable fruit and vegetables is a right, not a privilege. And that’s where the Super 6 offer comes in! This includes six fruit and vegetables at super low prices every week, ensuring customers can stay healthy for less.

Little Moons

So, what are Little Moons? Well, they are a combination of traditional Japanese rice cake – mochi and ice cream. Basically, a tiny ice cream sandwich.

Over the last couple of weeks, TikTok users have been filming their purchases of the mochi ice cream at Tesco. Reviews have generally been positive and as momentum has grown more people have been getting in on the craze.

TikTok users kicked it all off, but Little Moons said they have not paid any influencers to promote the brand. All we know is that the tag #LittleMoons now has over 50 million views on the platform and sales of the gelatinous treat are up 700%! Overall, demonstrating the power of Tiktok and its almighty algorithm- watch this space!

Come back next week for more insights!