Snack advertising drives food industry uptick: Nielsen
Snack food, chocolates, ice cream, and cured meats are driving a rise in advertising spend across Australia’s food industry, with a $24 million year-on-year rise in ad investment in the sector.
Nielsen Ad Intel data released today shows a 6% increase in advertising spend in the food sector in the twelve months to April 2025.
Total spend has rising to $414 million, from $390 million for the same period in 2023–2024. The top advertiser during the last twelve months was Mondelez, owner of the Oreo and Cadbury brands, while the likes of Arnotts, Ferrero, Peters Ice Cream, Primo Smallgoods, and Mars Snackfoods were among the top ten spenders.
Total advertising spend in the snack food category was up 56%, ice cream and frozen confectionery spend rose 50%, biscuits were up 31%, and spend on smallgoods (cured meats, of the share-plate variety) jumped 86%.
Last year, Kellogg’s CEO was under fire for suggesting that families eat cereal for dinner during the cost-of-living crisis, but local advertisers seemingly took note, with Sanitarium, and Kellog’s also in the top ten advertisers over the past twelve months.
And where there is excessive chocolate intake, there is also atonement, which advertisers are hoping comes in the form of Lite N Easy dinners, and Hello Fresh mealkits, both of whom were also among the top spenders.
Nielsen calls the results “a return to growth for the sector”, and notes “significant gains in impulse and convenience-based food categories.”
Aside from the fact advertisers are tempting us all to snack through the recession, what else can we learn from this data?
Nielsen Ad Intel’s pacific commercial lead, Rose Lopreiato, said these results show “how critical it is for food marketers to understand where and how their competitors are investing”, noting the blend of established and emerging brands ramping up advertising, and the increase in digital and out-of-home placements.
“Staying informed on competitive spend is essential to making smarter, faster decisions about channel mix, share of voice, and campaign timing.” she said.
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Got a tip?
Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
Linkedin
Mondelez does not own Nestle.
User ID not verified.
Clearly the photo is not from Australian market…
User ID not verified.
Thanks for picking that up, Anon. We have corrected the article.
Have your say