trend-report-monthly_saltysnacks

Salty Snacks has been one of the strongest categories in grocery over the past four years, particularly in the specialty market. This year is no different, because comfort has been a stronger driver than inflation in Salty Snacks—unlike most other categories, where inflation is primary. Consumers often think of the salty snacks aisle as guilt free, where they are able to focus on comfort, fun, and convenience with most products being low in calories and sugar. As such, better for you, better for the environment, clean label, and general healthy positioning is much more important than attributes like fair trade, organic, grain free, functional, or adherence to various diets. Specialty buyers polled by SFA note that potato chips and tortilla chips (the two largest subcategories) are leading performers this year, but they believe that popcorn, puffed snacks and straws, and pretzels have strong potential for the coming year. BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE SFA DISTRIBUTOR COUNCIL CATEGORY TRENDS—SALTY SNACKS

SFA asked retail and foodservice buyers about their salty snack picks.

Ken Manley, director of purchasing, Draeger’s Market • Purely Sprouted Sweet & Salty Sprouted Snack Mix

Summer Thompson, senior buyer, Market Hall Foods • Beecher’s Flagship Cheese Sticks • Marimix Toasty Peanut Butter Snack Mix • Masseria Mirogallo Fried Dried Peppers • Stemple Creek Ranch Beef Snack Sticks • Wadaman Organic Roasted Golden Sesame Seeds

Kari Morris, co-founder and buyer, Martie.com • Karma Nuts Sea Salt Wrapped Cashews • Living Intentions Superfood Popcorn, Cheeze please • Ocean’s Halo Sea Salt Seaweed Snacks • Patagonia Provisions Organic Chile Mango Solar Dried Fruit • Toodaloo Smoke Show BBQ Trail Mix

Becky Clutter, founder, Fikabröd, LLC • Confetti Snacks Mushroom and Veggie Chips

• Lays retro offerings • Sal de Ibiza La Vie en Rose Potato Chips • Tochi Popcorn

• Sabatino Tartufi Truffle Crisps • Table Foods Dosa Chips, Curry • Top Seedz Crackers, Sea Salt • Vista Hermosa Totopos, Sea Salted

SALES OF SALTY SNACKS AT RETAIL

• Salty Snack growth of 12 percent in the year ending September 10, 2023, came without the sharp volume declines that nearly every other category has seen.

• Longer term, Salty Snacks has been one of the strongest categories in grocery over the past three years, particularly in the specialty market. • Specialty & Natural positioning has a faster 2-year growth rate than Conventional (28.4 percent vs. 27.5 percent), while in the past year Conventional positioning rose 12.2 percent with volume growth of 0.3 percent, and Specialty & Natural grew sales 11.3 percent with a volume decline of 1.5 percent.

Conventional

Specialty & Natural

Source: SPINS

Contact partners@spins.com with any data inquiries

FOODSERVICE TRENDS: SALTY SNACKS ON THE MENU The following limited-time offerings were introduced in foodservice in September, according to Technomic.

Subway Miss Vickie’s Spicy Dill Pickle Chips A Spicy Dill Pickle Chip with the classic flavor of tangy, puckery, garlicky pickle and the added kick of spicy red pepper.

Taco John’s Nacho Crunch Beef Burrito

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams Butterscotch Popcorn This popcorn sweet cream is made by steeping crisp, sun-popped corn from BjornQorn into fresh dairy. Adding crispy, golden toffee gives a caramelized finish.

This Nacho Crunch Beef Burrito is made with seasoned American beef, crunchy chips, creamy nacho cheese, and mild sauce wrapped inside a warm tortilla.

Source: Technomic

Why have salty snacks been so popular during a year of inflated prices?

SNACKIN’ IN THE USA

“Salty Snack companies are being adventurous and trying out new flavors and styles of snacks for consumers. There are a lot of foodies out there that like to take a chance and try something new or strange. They also seem to be going hotter with the flavorings so that is also gaining attention.” —Nikki Larson, purchasing manager, Glorioso’s Italian Market

“Consumers are willing to spend— the points of sales are broad and the occasion is frequent.” — Emily Murphy, Sales, Baldor Specialty Foods “They should hold [their popularity] for 3-5 more years.” —Stephen Morino, COO, Atlantic Intl Food Group

SALTY SNACKS AT RETAIL BY REGION*

Source: SPINS

113

115

South Central Southeast Plains West

109

101

118

California Mid-South Great Lakes Northeast

132

*Numbers represent an index which combines the percentage of households buying and dollars spent per household during the year ending September 10, 2023, across all channels.

Source: SFA Buyer Survey

Which snacks are most popular with your customers?

Snack performance is strong in the South, which is probably age-related since the Southern states and California have a lower average age.

56 % 50 % 38 % 44 % 25 %

Source: SFA Buyer Survey

TOP 10 SPECIALTY FOOD CATEGORIES BY 2022 $ SALES

Source: The State of the Specialty Food Industry report, 2023-2024 Edition third to the largest category over the last three years, besting Meat, Poultry, Seafood (#2), and Cheese & Plant-based Cheese (#3). In the top 10 categories , ranked by 2022 dollar sales, snacks top the list for the first time, show the findings of Specialty Food Association’s The State of the Specialty Food Industry report, 2023-2024 Edition. Chips, Pretzels, Snacks jumped from