Cadbury grew brand value by almost half between 2022 and 2023

Cadbury grew its brand value by almost half (47.6%) between 2022 and 2023, to enter the top 20 most valuable food brands globally.

In 2023, Cadbury’s brand value is $3.83bn (£2.99bn), compared to $2.60bn (£2.03bn) in 2022, according to a new report into the world’s most valuable food and non-alcoholic drink brands from Brand Finance.

Brand Finance uses the royalty relief method to calculate brand value, meaning it estimates the future revenue attributable to a brand and calculates a royalty rate that would be charged for the use of the brand. Brand Finance then ranks the 100 most valuable food brands globally.

Cadbury’s growth in value saw it move up 10 places in the ranking to become the 17^th most valuable food brand globally.

This year has seen the Mondelez-owned chocolate brand double-down on its ‘There’s a Glass and a Half in Everyone’ advertising platform, as well as its commitment to innovation alongside long-term brand-building. It has been shortlisted for Marketing Week’s 2023 Brand of the Year.

Cadbury: Purpose should be ‘far greater than a campaign’

Alongside Cadbury, snack brands like Doritos and Lay’s saw significant growth in brand value year-over-year. Lay’s brand value grew by 29.2% year-over-year to maintain its place as the third most valuable food brand, while fellow PepsiCo brand Doritos grew by 26% and rose six places to 19^th overall.

Brand Finance notes that the global snack market in general has been on the up, with PepsiCo’s Cheetos and Tostitos brands growing by 29.2% and 76.3% respectively. Chinese cracker brand Want Want grew by 38.1%, rising 11 places.

While 2023 has seen Cadbury and snack brands like Doritos improve their brand value, for other food brands, it has been a year of decline.

Unilever, has dropped ten places to 23^rd in the ranking. Its brand value has declined 13.9% to $3.32bn (£2.57bn). New CEO Hein Schumacher will be hoping he can restore the company’s fates as he takes over leadership. His predecessor, Alan Jope, faced renewed criticism from a high-profile investor earlier this year alleging that the company is overly focused on brand purpose over product at the expense of commercial results.

Other notable value declines include Ferrero Rocher, which fell by over 20% and dropped out of the top 50 into 72^nd, as well as Nutella, which declined by 14.9%.

Nestlé maintained its position as the most valuable brand on the list, worth $22.43bn (£17.54bn). It grew its brand value by 7.7% versus last year. The company, which owns brands like Nescafe and KitKat, has a significantly higher brand value than the second-place brand on the list, Chinese dairy group Yili, which is worth $12.41bn (£9.71bn).

“Nestlé continues to raise the bar, setting new benchmarks for the industry and inspiring trust among consumers worldwide,” says Brand Finance valuation director Savio D’Souza.

In addition to determining the value of brands, Brand Finance also assesses each brand’s strength. It does this by looking at factors such as evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity and business performance. It then assigns brands a score of strength out of 100, and a corresponding rating (with AAA+ being the highest).

While Nestlé is the most valuable food brand of 2023, it has an AAA- rating and does not secure a place in the top 10 of the strongest food brands. According to Brand Finance, Hershey is the strongest global food brand, scoring 91.4 out of 100 and achieving a AAA+ rating. The next strongest is Indian dairy brand Amul (scoring 89.0 and an AAA rating).

Continuing a pattern of snack foods scoring well in Brand Finance’s ratings, Doritos and Cheetos are ranked as the third and fourth strongest brands, scoring 88.2 and 88.0, respectively.

Coca-Cola dominates drinks category

Coca-Cola is the strongest and most valuable non-alcoholic drinks brand in 2023, a continuation of the position it held last year.

The drinks brand has an AAA+ rating and score of 89.7. It is worth $33.47bn (£26.17bn), down 5.4% from its 2022 value, however, still significantly more than rival cola brand Pepsi, which is the second most valuable brand at $18.34bn (£14.31bn). The data suggests that despite a decline for the most valuable non-alcoholic drink, Pepsi has a long way to go to knock Coca-Cola off top spot.

“[Coca-Cola] continues to boost its international reputation and capture the loyalty of generations across the globe through ingenious and powerful marketing campaigns, product evolutions and innovative digital strategies,” says D’Souza.

Why Coca-Cola is making a ‘unified’ global push behind the Sprite brand

While rival Pepsi is the second most valuable non-alcoholic drink brand, it is only the fifth strongest brand. It has slid down two places in the ranking, with its score declining 8.3 points to 81.8.

The second strongest global soft drink brand is Chinese bottled water and beverage maker Nongfu Spring, which scores 87.1. Lipton tea rounds out the top three strongest brands, scoring 85.2.

While name brand Coca-Cola takes the crown for both strongest and most valuable brand in 2023, the Coca-Cola Company’s other brands continue to do well, according to the data from Brand Finance.

Sprite is the eighth most valuable non-alcoholic drinks brand, valued at $4.17bn (£3.26bn), while Fanta is 14^th and worth $2.28bn (£1.78bn), according to Brand Finance. The fruit-flavoured soft drink also makes 10^th on the list of strongest brands, scoring 79.2.

However, both Fanta and Sprite have seen declines in their brand value versus last year, according to the rankings. Sprite fell one place and lost 16.6% of its brand value, while Fanta dropped three places and lost 12.2% of its value versus last year.

This is despite efforts by the Coca-Cola Company to unify global marketing efforts for both the Sprite and Fanta brands.

Earlier this year, sparkling flavours and brand lead Aaliyah Shafiq-Ely told Marketing Week Coca-Cola was making a “concerted” push behind Sprite to build a global presence and maximise its potential for the business.

Similarly, Fanta launched a global identity for the first time earlier this year, to unify the presence of the brand.