Marmalade is the preserve of the elderly, data shows

It has been king of the British breakfast table for two centuries but now marmalade has become just a preserve of the elderly.

New data has revealed that the traditional orange spread is being rejected en mass by younger shoppers, with under 28s making up just 1 in 100 of marmalade buyers over the past year.

By contrast 6 out of 10 marmalade buyers were aged over 65, showing it is still a firm favorite among those of pensioner-age.

The data, from Kantar Worldpanel, shows the condiment's popularity sharply declining down the generations, a phenomenon which has led to overall marmalade sales falling by 4.7pc to £53 million in the four years since 2013.

Orange marmalade dates back to 1714 with the original recipe including whole oranges, lemon juice and sugar. It was later, in the 19th century, that marmalade became a breakfast tradition in the UK. Experts put marmalade's fading appeal down to its old-fashioned image and Millennials distaste for "bits" in spreads.

Until 2001 Robertson's popular "Golden Shred" marmalade carried a Gollywog symbol, which it eventually scrapped over criticism that it was dated and racist.

The trend means that barely any of of today's children are being exposed to marmalade at breakfast, as just 10pc of marmalade is sold to households with children, according to the data.

Bruno Monteyne, a senior analyst at Bernstien retail, said: "Older generations would have been used to seeing their parents make marmalade and jams at home, but sadly now that won't be the case."

These days younger consumers tend to prefer smoother spreads like chocolate and peanut butter, which are rising in popularity. Peanut butter, which is now seen as a "health food", was the fastest rising spread in terms of sales this year, with an 18.9pc yearly rise.

Grenville Wall, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “Consumers tend to carry their habits with them as they age, so those who grew up eating marmalade in its heyday still do so in their 60s and 70s. It also has a relatively unfashionable image and many people don't like the hard bits of rind."

But the older population of tomorrow was brought up on chocolate spread and peanut butter instead, so as our current generation of marmalade-eaters dies they aren’t being replaced at the same rate."