The Goods UK: Udderly nutritious
Welcome back to The Goods UK! This week we’re chatting about Brits swapping Cheltenham for Benidorm, the growing consumption of functional drinks and how one retailer is tackling one of the UK’s biggest and unknown waste challenges.
Fun stats of the week
- 34 million litres: The amount of decorative paint wasted each year, with the majority being disposed of incorrectly (The Waste Group UK).
- 400,000: The number of pints of Guinness expected to be consumed by Cheltenham racegoers this week (Daily Express).
- £12 million: The price a rare Pikachu card sold for last month (BBC).
- 25,000: The number of etched limes rolling out across 30 retailers, each marked with lines to help consumers slice the perfect wedge for a Corona bottle or can (The Grocer).
What’s in: this week’s trends
- Costa del Cheltenham: Cheltenham Races comes to a close this afternoon and despite a year-on-year increase in attendance on Day One of the festival, an increasing number of racegoers have chosen to ditch the British weather to get their racing fix in the sunshine (The Mirror). Hotel bookings in Benidorm have risen 225% over the week as the Spanish resort showcases the event, offering punters a cheaper racing experience where flights are the same price as a train from London to Gloucestershire and pints can be bought for £1.70 versus £7.50 at Cheltenham (The Sun).
- Digital detox: From needlepoint to blacksmithing and origami to pottery, Gen-Z and millennials are replacing screen-time with ‘grandma hobbies’ (The Independent). The shift is driven by an increasing number of younger people seeking time away from digital devices and a chance to reconnect with childlike creativity and exploration. One brand which continues to capitalise on this interest is Lego, which has seen an increase in sales bolstered by strategic partnerships with iconic brands including Formula 1 (The Times).
- Gotta Collect ‘Em All!: The days of trading cards in the playground might have been and gone, but the nostalgic collectibles, including Pokémon and Disney, are seeing renewed interest from a fanatic community of collectors who view them not as a hobby, but as a financial investment. With last month’s sale of a £12m Pokémon Pikachu card providing its seller with a 200% return on investment over five years, sales of the cards on online platforms have increased 282% in 2025, showing that this once niche hobby is being viewed as a serious investment option (This is Money).
Cash or card: shopper behaviour
What’s in and out of our baskets right now? This week we explore what’s behind the demand for functional drinks, the growing preference for organic household staples and the resilience of affordable luxuries.
- A new kind of buzz: Functional drinks saw a boom in popularity during dry January, with sales increasing 28.5% to £11.3m, a faster rate than no and low alcohol options, as consumers seek out added benefits from their beverages (The Grocer). The shift can be attributed to the increasing cost of non-alcoholic beer, which is now 8.3% more expensive year-on-year (The Times), as well as the growing number of functional drink options available in the UK market. Favourites include the viral US soda brand Poppi, signalling that wellness-led, functional drinks are fast becoming the next battleground in the soft drinks aisle (PepsiCo).
- Scents and sensibility: High-end fragrance houses such as Parfums de Marly, Creed and Byredo now make up around 20% of the global fragrance market, up from just 5% pre-pandemic, with the segment growing four times faster than the overall category (Financial Times). The boom comes despite a difficult retail backdrop, where sales rose just 1.1% in February amid weak consumer confidence (This is Money). The contrast highlights the resilience of “affordable luxury”, with younger shoppers embracing fragrance “wardrobing”, collecting multiple scents for different moods or occasions.
- Udderly nutritious: Demand for organic household staples including milk, eggs and carrots have outgrown conventional products by 400% in 2025 (Business Green). Driven by shoppers increasingly prioritising products with high-welfare and “cleaner” ingredients, organic sales are now worth £3.9 billion, up 4.2% in the past year and having doubled in the past decade. Dairy drinks are a clear winner of this change in consumer priorities, appealing to more health conscious shoppers looking for high-protein and nutrient-dense products (The Grocer).
Making moves: industry changes & innovation
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- Social shopping: AI platforms are now a mainstay for consumers looking for inspiration and value ahead of making a purchase. This shopping trend has created a ‘new era of retail’ and business, including John Lewis, are investing in their offering to ensure they capitalise on the opportunity. Following a £800m investment, AI-enabled consumers will be able to discover John Lewis items through Google Gemini and ChatGPT and purchase them through TikTok Shop, making it easier than ever to search and shop online (Retail Week).
- Waste not, paint not: Waste reduction is high on the agenda for UK retailers as brands look to reduce the environmental impact of their products. While the spotlight often shines on food and clothing waste, B&Q has partnered with UK PaintCare to tackle one of the UK’s biggest waste challenges, decorative paint. An estimated 34m litres of paint are wasted each year, with only 2% recycled and the scheme will look to either recycle or safely dispose of unused decorative paint (Retail Innovation Hub).
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