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The categories that follow include dairy, chilled convenience, frozen food, hot beverages, soft drinks, breakfast cereals, take-home savouries, canned brands, confectionery, biscuit brands, bathroom toiletries, healthcare, petcare, savoury home-cooking, spirits, wine, beer and household cleaning

Dairy: £8.5bn (+11%)*

The strongest growth in the dairy category comes from Cravendale and Cathedral City; sales of both rose 27%, an impressive performance for brands operating in mostly commoditised markets. Cathedral City has benefited from strong innovation. Its range, which now includes sliced and grated, lunchpack and 'dip and go' variants, is supported by advertising with the strapline 'You see it, you want it'.

Despite trying to reassure customers of its 'natural-ness', Dairylea, one of only two top 10 brands to lose sales, still has work to do to convince parents of its health benefits. Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, is Flora's decline after years of strong performance based on the health benefits of variants such as

pro.activ, which helps lower cholesterol, and Omega 3. Critics argue that the brand has become too expensive and that its products are over-processed.

*Figures refer to total grocery spend in each category

Chilled convenience: £6.7bn (+2%)

The contrasting fortunes of Ginsters, which plays on its Cornish provenance and local sourcing in its humorous ads, and Pork Farms, the only brand in the top 10, other than Bernard Matthews, to lose sales, illustrates consumers' preference for 'authentic' food, even in the convenience sector. At Pork Farms, though, neither innovations such as the Munchbox nor its mission 'to make food to make an occasion' have captured consumers' imaginations.

Given the trend toward healthier eating rather than dieting, the most surprising sales rise came from Weight Watchers. The brand has extended into more categories, including snack bars, and expanded its online presence with recipe ideas, health and fitness tips, and advice on shopping and eating out. Consumers can also join Weight Watchers online. 'It has established its ownership of calorie-controlled eating,' says TNS Worldpanel's Chris Longbottom.

 Frozen food: £2.7bn (+4%)

Birds Eye, which has done much to revive the frozen-food sector by stressing freshness and fewer additives as attributes of its products, posted 1% growth, which came from its frozen vegetables, fish and poultry lines. Its sales of red meat, ready meals and potato products continue to decline, however.

Young's has capitalised on the healthy-eating trend most successfully, combining the benefits of frozen food with the healthy attributes of fish. It has about 70 fish and seafood products, and its advertising highlights the variety of countries it sources its range from - 'all brought to your plate via Grimsby'.

The one surprise in the table is the strong performance of Wall's ice cream, given 2007's poor summer. However, it owns premium brand Carte D'Or, which taps into the indulgence trend and has a strong focus on NPD, having introduced low-calorie, fat-free Fruit Sorbets and Chocolate Inspirations products.

Hot beverages: £1.4bn (+5%)

The miserable summer was good news for hot-drinks brands, with instant coffee and hot chocolate experiencing particularly strong growth. One, perhaps surprising, entrant into the top 10, with 13% growth, is Horlicks. A very old-fashioned brand, it has repositioned itself as a sleep aid, but, says Dorothy Mackenzie, chairman of brand consultancy Dragon, the resurgence of such traditional products also taps into consumers' desire for 'comfort brands'. 

PG Tips was the only brand to lose sales - partly to own-label, but also as a result of the strong growth of Typhoo. An ad campaign for the latter, which ran last summer, was filmed on a working tea plantation in India, helping to reinforce the authenticity and provenance of the brand.

Soft drinks: £2.8bn (-2%)

The poor summer in 2007 depressed soft-drink sales, but healthy, 'natural' and premium brands Tropicana and Innocent bucked the trend with rises of 24% and 17% respectively. The combined value sales of these brands are now about two-thirds those of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke - a fundamental and dramatic shift.

The poor performance of the latter pair may have been affected by the 2006 launch of Coke Zero, but it also reflects the long-term decline of carbonated drinks. Coke's recent TV ad, which emphasised that Coke is still made to a 122-year-old recipe and is, therefore, free of modern preservatives or flavourings, is unlikely to arrest its decline.

Ribena's 10% decline suggests it is still rooted in the traditional less-healthy squash market.

Breakfast cereals: £1.7bn (+4%)

Low-fat cereal Special K enjoyed double-digit growth again this year on the back of continued NPD. There are now nine variants, including Sustain and the strawberry and chocolate-flavour Bliss, and the success of the regular post-Christmas 'Drop a jeans size' campaign has been augmented by 'Get slimmer for summer' activity. 'Special K has done a great job in extending the appeal of what once felt like an old-fashioned diet brand and keeping it fresh and interesting,' says Mackenzie.

The performance of Shreddies and Shredded Wheat has not been helped by ads featuring 'knitting grannies' and former cricketer Ian Botham. Despite their health claims - both are made from 100% wheat - they are being overtaken by the rise of healthier oats.

Take-home savouries: £1.5bn (+7%)

Strong growth by all but one of the brands in this sector reflects the twin trends of healthy eating and indulgence. Walkers Baked crisps saw 56% growth, but the mother brand also performed well. Walkers' regular crisps are now made with healthy sunseed oil, and the brand stresses its use of only British potatoes.

Yet the only brand to lose sales last year was another Walkers brand - Sensations. When it launched it performed strongly on the back of interesting new flavours and a premium positioning.

While Walkers focuses on healthier products, such as its wholegrain Sunbites, Kettle Foods, which grew 41% last year, is moving into the space vacated by Sensations. With a hand-crafted look, variants include flavours such as Honey Barbecue.

Canned brands: £1.8bn (+7%)

The revival of this category has been helped by the strong performance of soups last summer. Heinz's strength in soup and beans, helped by innovations such as Mean Beanz, 'Special' soups and a range of children's spaghetti products, helped it consolidate its dominance in the sector.

It is perhaps surprising that there is just one fruit brand in the table. Del Monte has been experimenting with new formats, but Dragon's Mackenzie believes that consumers' desire for 'comfort' brands offers scope for it to revive 'the old tinned peaches with evaporated milk for Sunday tea' concept. 'If Horlicks could make a comeback, surely Del Monte can,' she says, noting that tinned fruit has apparently failed to capitalise on the five-a-day trend.

Confectionery: £2.5bn (+6%)

While Cadbury hogged the headlines with its 'Gorilla' ad, rival Galaxy outstripped its rival with growth of 12% compared with Dairy Milk's 2%.

Nonetheless, Cadbury's penetration, purchase frequency and average spend are all rising; 86% of households bought its chocolate last year.

The strongest growth in the portfolio came from Roses, which burst into the top 10 with a 22% rise in sales on the back of a particularly strong performance during the key Christmas period. It beat Quality Street onto the shelves by about a month.

No brand lost sales, but there was no change in Thorntons' performance, suggesting that it may need to refresh its supermarket offering to justify its continued shelf presence.

Biscuit brands: £2.0bn (+7%)

British consumers love affair with chocolate biscuits is far from over, as the 14% rise in sales of Cadbury's Fingers, which introduced variants such as Double Chocolate and Mint last year, testifies. But TNS Worldpanel's Longbottom believes that 'growing competition from a broader range of snacks may spell the long-term decline of biscuits as a snack product'.

Healthier biscuits account for the biggest share of the market, with 20%; cereal bars account for three-quarters of this category. Ryvita owes its steady progress to continued innovation, with new products such as Goodness bars, sweet Ryvita Minis and a range of wholeseed crispbreads, helping to drive sales. 

Bathroom toiletries: £2.5bn (+4%)

 Innovation accounted for most of Lynx's 18% sales growth last year. The success of the 'Chocolate man' work drove the performance of its new Dark Temptation variant, which accounted for half of the total sales growth. The rest came from NPD in 2007, when Unilever reformulated all its fragrances. Lynx's position as the UK's top male-grooming brand owes much to its tongue-in-cheek advertising. 

While Dove grew sales by 8% on the back of the launch of its Pro Age range in January 2007 and Go Fresh range a year later, three of the other main women's toiletries brands - L'Oreal, Johnson's and Olay - were victims of the storming success of Boots' now must-have No 7 Protect & Perfect range of skincare products.

 Healthcare: £1.5bn (+1%)

 The major multiples are continuing to steal share of the market from drugstores such as Boots. Overall growth was the result of more frequent purchasing; the strong performance of brands such as Lemsip was driven by the poor summer (and increased colds) of 2007. Anadin's 6% fall is largely explained by the 12% rise for Nurofen, which dominates with several variants and formats. Recent innovations include Nurofen Express liquid capsules, which claim to target pain twice as fast as standard Nurofen tablets.

Scholl's 8% fall may be reversed next year as a result of an overhaul of its positioning as the expert in foot health and comfort. The brand recently revamped its website, and has introduced products, such as its Nail Brightening System, supported by a TV campaign.

Savoury home-cooking: £1.6bn (+9%)

Continued brand extension, including its Taste of Italy premium range, along with a TV campaign featuring the popular Dolmio family to promote its Best Ever Bolognese range of pasta sauces, helped Dolmio hold its top slot. It also maintains its profile among its target audience of young mothers by its sponsorship of ITV's This Morning, but its position could be under threat if Bisto's resurgence continues.

The surprise, here, is the falling sales of Marmite. A campaign by DDB London, featuring Paddington Bear and playing on the long-running strapline 'You either love it or hate it', broke last September and was supported by radio ads in October.

Spirits: £3.5bn (+8%)

 Blended whisky remains the most important sector in supermarket take-home spirits, bought by nearly 20% of households, but 'Smirnoff and vodka are the brand and the drink of the moment', says TNS World-panel communications director Edward Garner.

Smirnoff ascribes a rise of nearly £9m in total sales last year directly to its 'Sea' ad, which improved perceptions of the brand. Sales are likely to be boosted further by the addition of flavoured  variants.

Gordon's Gin's 9% fall may be due to the success of premium rivals, but its fortunes could be boosted by the canned ready-to-drink Gordon's with Schweppes.

The 42% sales rise of High Commissioner whisky, which sells mainly through Morrisons and Asda, is largely down to its lower price.

Wine: £2.3bn (+2%)

 With a 40% share of total alcohol spend, still wine is the biggest alcohol category. Last year more shoppers bought wine more frequently and paid more for it.

Sales of red wine performed very well during last year's cold summer. The category is also benefiting from higher base-price points, heavy price promotion and consumers trading up to more expensive wines.

Hardys double-digit sales growth came partly as a result of higher buyer numbers - 6.3m shoppers now buy Hardys. In March this year it launched its £12m 'One love since 1853' drive, claimed to be the biggest ad campaign ever run by a wine brand in the UK.

Blossom Hill's modest growth was surprising, given its sponsorship of the 2007 Wimbledon tennis championships.

Beer: £2.3bn (-5%)

The beer market last year was hit by a poor summer and the lack of a football World Cup, a peak time for beer sales. Consumers also bought beer less frequently as retailers continued to run ever-bigger multibuys.

Carlsberg lager sales grew 36% on the back of a competitive pricing and promotional position against rival big names. It continues to be supported by its award-winning 'World according to Carlsberg' ads.

John Smith's Extra Smooth also grew sales on the back of strong promotional activity, underpinned by its own iconic 'No nonsense' advertising.

Brands such as Stella Artois, Kronenbourg 1664 and Grolsch have a higher alcohol content than traditional bitters, which, in the new 'drink-aware' climate, could help explain their poor performance.

Household cleaning: £4.9bn (+3%)

Fairy consolidated its market lead last year. It is now an important non-bio brand, accounting for more than one-third of that market, and dish-washer tablets Fairy Active Bursts are bought by one-third of dish-washer owners. Yet, Fairy's main strength remains washing-up liquid, and the launch of its moisturising Clean and Care line has helped it attract more buyers.

The 20% rise in Vanish sales is a result of continual innovation in the brand by parent Reckitt Benckiser.

Ariel's 1% fall is as much to do with arch-rival Persil's 1% rise, though the recent launch of super-concentrated liquid Ariel Power may help the brand compete with Persil's successful Small and Mighty.

Biggest Brand report 2008 Online: