All that and a bag of crisps

The savoury snack category is booming, providing retailers with a big sales and profit-driving opportunity.

By Elena Dimama

Crisps and snacks have continued to be a critical sales driver for retailers, with the category being the second-biggest segment making up 44% of snacking occasions over the last five years.

Trips to convenience stores for savoury snacks are growing year-on-year at 6.4% and performing ahead of other food & beverage and sweet snacking.

Up and up

Scotland’s love affair with crisps has also continued, leading to a significant overtrade (35% share in Scotland vs 30% in GB) and crisps continue to grow ahead of the market (+9.5%), according to research.

Despite worries about the cost-of-living crisis, sales of sharing snacks continue to power ahead, making big bag formats a must-stock for independent retailers, Matt Smith, Marketing Director for Tayto Group, notes: “£1 PMP snacks are growing three times faster than the market (+16.1% vs +5.2%) as we continue to increasingly socialise at home instead of going out.”

“£1 PMP sharing crisps are also flying off the shelves, growing at +31.1%,” he adds. What’s more, price-marked packs continue to play a strong role within savoury snacking, according to Kirsten Reid, Impulse Category Management Channel Lead at PepsiCo, “offering the reassurance of value to shoppers which in turn creates confidence in local retailers and how they price their products”.

And over the last five years, savoury snacks have delivered consistent value growth of 2.4%.

A welcome treat

“For retailers, this means the category is well positioned for growth and continues to innovate and adapt to consumer needs,” Reid says. “There is a real opportunity for retailers to capitalise on this and to see greater returns from savoury snacking. Our HERO 25 range of bestselling SKUs is perfectly positioned to help retailers maximise their crisps and snacks sales.”

Stocking the right sharing format is “key to unlocking growth” on special occasions, such as sporting events or big nights in, according to Reid. “Within our own portfolio, sharing packs across our core Doritos range (+3.8%), Sensations (+7.8%), and Pipers (+47%) have performed strongly since last year, as consumers seek larger formats that can be enjoyed with multiple people.”

In the meantime, recent research by Tayto Group found that 57% of consumers said that PMP snacks are even more important in the current climate.

“As a brand committed to offering great branded value, PMPs account for over 90% of Golden Wonder Snacks sales – an even higher proportion than the previous year,” Smith comments.

“The majority of independent retailers we spoke to were clear that they would rather stick with a £1 PMP with less weight than maintain pack size and increase the price to £1.25. Based on this feedback, and the fact that our £1 PMP snacks range is outperforming the market (28.2% vs 5.2%), Golden Wonder will be sticking to £1 PMPs as we are committed to delivering our promise of ‘more punch per crunch’.”

Launches galore

On the back of the favourable climate for snacking, brands are ramping up launches.

Scottish snack firm Mackie’s of Scotland, for example, has added a Boxing Day Curry flavour to its crisps line-up.

Set for a limited initial run of 250,000 packs, the new 150g share bags will be sold from a range of retailers across Scotland, to be announced in the coming weeks.  In addition, Mackie’s has established a range of festive flavours that return to shelves year after year, including Pigs in Blankets and Turkey & Stuffing.

“The Mackie’s brand has become synonymous for offering customers unique and innovative snacks during key events throughout the calendar year: from Burns Night to Christmas,” David Wishart, Head of Sales at Mackie’s Crisps, says. “Our new Boxing Day Curry crisps will continue to build on this reputation and present customers with a limited-edition pack to savour and enjoy over the 12 weeks up to and including Christmas.”

KP Snacks has also revealed a host of new launches, starting with the roll-out of what it’s calling its “best-ever” vegetable crisps. Rolling out this month, the new and improved Tyrrells Veg Crisps is available in three flavours: Veg Crisps with Sea Salt, Veg Crisps with Balsamic Vinegar & Sea Salt, and Sweet Potato Crisps with Sea Salt.