Its always interesting to review ‘The Grocer’s Top Product Survey’ every year to reflect on the supermarket winners and losers. Given the economic pinch felt by all shoppers in 2009, this year’s ranking was especially interesting reading.

One thing that stood out for me was the relative good fortune of the baby product categories, in particular the baby snacks sector which recorded the sixth highest annual sales with growth increasing almost 13% year on year.

The recession has been a time when people have made various compromises in their spending and its is clear that they are less prepared to make perceived sacrifices when it comes to buying products for their children. When you speak with parents, they frequently say that they tend to make sure that their kids ‘do not go without’ even if that means a degree of cutting back on their own personal indulgences. This is well demonstrated with the fortunes of organic food & drink, which overall has struggled to justify its price premium within the regular shopping basket, yet organic kids products have bucked this particular trend and remain as buoyant as ever.

Whilst some traditionalists may argue that children are over-indulged in today’s society, it is very evident that companies that continue to provide quality products underpinned by trusted & recognized brands can continue to command a price premium for doing so.