Coca-Cola 'top UK brand seller'

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Coca-Cola has kept its position as the UK's best-selling grocery brand, according to a survey.

The soft drinks giant saw sales grow 5% in 2006, with its Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero brands generating sales of £942.3m, AC Nielsen data said.

Bread firm Warburton was second in the rankings, ahead of crisp maker Walkers and rival baker Hovis.

Smoothie and juice brand Innocent showed most improvement in the year. Its sales grew by 140% to £96.2m.

And health product Danone Bio Activa was the second fastest-growing brand, with sales up 77.2%.

Wholesome

TOP SELLING UK BRANDS 2006 1. Coca-Cola 2. Warburtons3. Walkers4. Hovis5. Cadbury Dairy Milk6. Nescafe7. Andrex8. Lucozade9. Kingsmill10. Robinsons Source: Checkout/AC Nielsen

The survey, for trade magazine Checkout, used data from more than 74,000 supermarkets and convenience stores across the UK, but did not include alcohol or cigarettes.

Cadbury's Dairy Milk was the fifth most popular brand, but sales were down 2.5%.

Other big-name labels also saw sales slip, according to the survey - including Pepsi (down 4.8%), Chicago Town frozen pizza (17.9%), and Muller Light (18.6%).

Despite the continued popularity of fizzy drinks, crisps and chocolate, the figures showed customers were opting for healthier choices, said Checkout editor Fiona Briggs.

"Brands which have done really well have done so largely on the back of either development into healthy, wholesome lines or the removal and reduction of nasties, such as saturated fats, salt and artificial additives," she said.