Sitting pretty

The Big Night In opportunity offers local stores a wealth of opportunities to bag extra sales and profits.

By Gaelle Walker

School is back, the nights are drawing in and Scotland’s sofas are beckoning behinds to sit and share big nights in with friends and family.

Fortunately for local retailers, the trend towards cosy nights in can also result in toasty profits, with sharing formats key to driving sales.

According to Matt Collins, Trading Director at KP Snacks, 49% of shoppers see snacks as a “must have” for an evening in, and with a current value of £1.4bn, sharing is the largest segment in CSN “and growing strongly at 8.3% MAT”.

“Taste,” Collins says, “is a critical element of this ‘Together Time’ as the number one influence for shoppers buying crisps or snacks.”

One key Big Night In category certainly hitting the mark with shoppers at the moment is popcorn, which, thanks to a raft of recent developments, is not only ticking the box when it comes to taste, but also scoring big on price and health.

In fact, sharing occasions of the popped corn snack are currently growing at 21% according to KP Snacks, which recently launched Butterkist Crunchy Orange Chocolate popcorn in £1 PMPs in a bid to better “bridge the gap between popcorn and chocolate confectionery”.

Also hoping to bag a bigger bite of the popcorn opportunity over the autumn Big Night In opportunity and beyond is premium snack company Burts Chips, which just bolstered its range with the launch of two new “small batch” popcorn products.

With the popcorn category “driving the larger snacking industry” and featuring an estimated CAGR of 11.2% by 2027, now was the perfect time for Burts to “develop the ultimate hand-cooked and small batch ready-to-eat popcorn,” Chief Executive Dave McNulty said.

Burts Small Batch Popcorn is available now in two flavours: Lightly Salted and Sweet & Salty.

Away from popcorn, but also playing on the key field of permissible indulgence, is Mars Wrigley’s Maltesers Balls range, which was expanded earlier this summer with the addition of Dark Maltesers.

Marking the first innovation for Maltesters Balls in nearly 10 years, the launch was designed to offer shoppers “a more intense chocolate experience with less sugar”.

“Research shows that the dark chocolate segment has grown 15%, with consumers increasingly looking for a more intense cocoa experience,” Maltesers Brand Director Leah Dyckes says.

“The creation of Dark Maltesers is a direct response to our consumers who have voiced they would like a dark chocolate variety of their favourite treat.

“Dark Maltesers retain what consumers know and love about Maltesers whilst offering a richer flavour profile, widening the consumer base of dark chocolate to younger consumers.”

Available in £1 PMP treat bags, single packs, small pouches and sharing pouches, there is a Maltesers Balls format to suit all Big Night In occasions, from indulgent movie nights in alone or fun-filled evenings with a crowd.