Crisps, Snacks & Nuts (CSN) is a fast growing, priority category with huge scale. Worth £3.6bn and growing at +6% YOY (Nielsen), CSN shoppers are spending an extra £100 in the category, +14% YOY (Kantar). And with 67% more people choosing convenience for ‘main shop (HIM) and one in five baskets containing a bagged snack (Lumina), CSN represents an important opportunity for retailers to grow sales and footfall.
“We’re seeing dynamic change across the category, and retailers can bank on bagged snacks to drive sales and footfall by stocking the right range and formats,” comments Matt Collins, Trading Director at KP Snacks.
“Using the strength of our brand portfolio, we continue to look to help our retail partners adjust to shifting category trends and retain shoppers. KP Snacks has the broadest portfolio across all segments, with something to suit everyone and all occasions.”
KP’s snacks are consumed by over 20m households and its diverse portfolio has delivered 44% of the category’s growth in the last five years (Nielsen).
Launched this year, new KP Nuts Flavour Kravers range is delivering bold flavours to evening sharing, the largest occasion within both nuts and sharing (Kantar). Available in three flavours: Flame Grilled Steak, Smokin’ Paprika, and Fiery Caribbean Jerk Sauce, Flavour Kravers look to ignite interest from younger consumers to drive sales, with this demographic over-indexing in bold flavours (Kantar).
“Over the course of the pandemic, we saw shifts in shopper behaviour and changing consumer demand, boosting Sharing formats which continue to perform strongly,” adds Collins. “Customers gravitate towards well-known and trusted brands with 42% of CSN sales going through the top 5 brands (Nielsen), and many of our KP Snacks’ brands are excelling.”
£1 PMPs have also seen significant growth in the last few years and this format will stay increasingly relevant post pandemic. KP’s £1 PMP portfolio is currently worth £66.7m RSV, and is growing at +10.5% (Nielsen), with 24 PMPs available across the KP range.
Earlier this year, KP launched McCoy’s Sizzling King Prawn in a £1 PMP format. The new McCoy’s PMP capitalises on prawn being the fastest growing flavour within the category, growing at +10% vs the category at +2.7%, making it perfectly positioned to engage consumers and drive sales (Nielsen). Last year, KP expanded its PMP range with the addition of three of the most popular flavours of premium snack brand Tyrrells, with 60g bags of Lightly Salted, Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar, and Mature Cheddar & Chive now available in £1PMP.
“Food to Go is a long-term, resilient growth trend,” says Collins. “The category is showing strong recovery and we expect the market to rebound as footfall and frequency continue to rise.”
KP Snacks portfolio delivers the top three selling meal deal SKUs. Hula Hoops Big Hoops BBQ Beef is the top selling PMP in the convenience channel, worth £12.2m and takes the No.1 spot for best-selling Meal Deal choice (Nielsen). Worth £150.1m, the Hula Hoops brand is growing in value at +5.6% MAT (Nielsen). McCoy’s Salt & Vinegar and Flame Grilled Steak are the No.2 and No.3 best-selling meal deal choices, perfect for livening up lunchtimes.
Matt Smith, Marketing Director for Tayto Group, comments: “It’s all about understanding the shopper mission – and ranging and merchandising accordingly. As people return to ‘normal’ after lockdown, impulse pack sales are bouncing back.”
Tayto has seen good growth in its 30p Fun Snacks range (that includes Tangy Toms and Spicy Bikers) as consumers look for value at the entry-point price point.
“£1 snacks will continue to grow – although possibly a little slower – as people start to socialise more,” Smith adds. “With the impending HFSS legislation, lower fat, salt and sugar products will become more visible and drive growth. Pork Snacks sales have been performing well as consumers continue to enjoy the ultimate pub snack at home – a behaviour encouraged by pub closures in lockdown, that shows no sign of stopping.”
Value is a top priority for consumers who are increasingly concerned about rising living costs with almost 40% ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ concerned.
In savoury snacks, over 85% are planning to change their shopping habits with buying on promotion (33%), buying less often (26%) and switching to cheaper brands (25%) being top of their list (Norstat).
Tapping into continuing consumer interest in spicy flavours, Golden Wonder have launched a Spicy Thai Ringos into its successful £1 PMP range that is outperforming the market +26% vs +17% (IRI).
With a real kick, and less than 100 calories per serving like the rest of the Ringos range, Spicy Thai delivers on the Golden Wonder’s brand promise of ‘more punch per crunch.’”
To celebrate the brand’s 75th anniversary, Golden Wonder fans voted to bring back their all-time favourite flavours – Beef & Onion and Chip Shop Curry – in classic 1970s packs.
Cheese & Onion, the flagship flavour launched in 1962, joins the new flavours in heritage packs which all feature an on-pack promotion to win one of 75 experience vouchers. What’s more, every entrant will receive 10% off at experiencedays.co.uk.
The on-pack promotion is also running across Golden Wonder’s recently launched £1 crisps range which is performing ahead of expectations.
The promotional packs are available now and the campaign is being promoted across social, digital and trade channels throughout 2022.
Kate Needham, Marketing Director at Burton’s Biscuit Company, comments: “As an iconic brand from the ‘80s, Burton’s Fish ‘n Chips evokes nostalgic childhood memories for today’s consumers. Flavoured with lashings of salt & vinegar, our uniquely shaped savoury snacks were brought back by popular demand in 2014 as the most sought-after retro food brand in the UK. The classic combination of strong flavours and chip-shop style packaging sets it apart from other savoury snacks on the market, making it a much-loved British snack worth over £4.7M a year (Kantar).”
Off the back of a successful campaign over the last few years, which saw the brand being renamed as ‘Sport ‘n’ Vinegar’ for a limited time to highlight the fantastic summers of sport, the £4.7M savoury snack brand F&C is in nearly 5% growth (Nielsen).
The leading Fish ‘n’ Chips SKU, a 125g share bag has launched as a PMP across Cash & Carry and impulse stores. The PMP will be merchandised alongside other savoury snacks.
Scott Snell, Vice President of Customer at pladis UK & Ireland, comments: “The government’s impending restrictions on HFSS products doesn’t have to spell bad news for the category, as crisps and snacks are enjoyed by virtually all households up and down the country and form an important part of the nation’s routine.
“Whilst it’s becoming increasingly important to offer healthier snacking options to give shoppers more choice – such as Jacob’s Mini Cheddars Nibblies – there’s still strong demand for bold, punchy flavoured snacks like our Jacob’s Mini Cheddars Sticks. What this means is that, whilst healthier propositions may gain share, we expect the overall category to remain in growth.”
HFSS restrictions are unlikely to apply to smaller, independent convenience stores, so convenience shoppers will be exposed to a greater spread of impulse categories and may be less likely to alter their shopping habits. As such, sales of categories which benefit from purchase on impulse, such as crisps and snacks, will remain buoyant.
Even those retailers affected by the impending restrictions will be looking to drive volume sales through heritage brands which shoppers already know, love and look out for in-store. Jacob’s, for example, has been baking savoury snacks for over 170 years, and is present in 51.6% (Kantar) of UK households’ shopping trolleys.
“For wholesalers, this simply means maintaining stock of the bestsellers and driving visibility of these key lines-in depot through clear signage should remain a big priority,” adds Snell.
The time people could spend with their loved ones was heavily limited during the best part of 2020 and 2021. This means that now, more than ever, people are cherishing moments of togetherness and taking full advantage of being in the company of family and friends – and larger formats are reaping the benefits. Products in this format are already up +16.1% (Nielsen) and counting, so it’s clear that larger, sharing packs represent a strong sales opportunity for wholesalers.
“Alongside this, mounting financial pressures will have an impact on many households in the year ahead – and so many Brits are likely to have less disposable income to spend on evenings out,” says Snell. “This means more of us will turn to the big night in – and, as groups of friends and family embrace evenings in spent playing games, watching movies and catching up, we can expect sales of larger formats – such as sharing bags – to continue to flourish.”
Sales of Jacob’s Mini Cheddars brand continue to outpace overall growth of larger formats, up +27.3% (Nielsen).
“And, given that larger formats often represent a lower cost per kg, we only anticipate similar sales success throughout the year ahead,” Snell continues. “Whether shoppers are looking to share snacks with loved ones, or simply save the pennies by swapping individual bags for larger formats which they can ration over a period of a few days, it’s vital that wholesalers stock up on Jacob’s Mini Cheddars sharing bags for all occasions.”
Sarah Beck, Valeo Snackfoods Head of Sales – Impulse, High Street and Out of Home, comments: “While the ban on advertising and multi-buy deals on HFSS products has been delayed, location restrictions are still due to come into force in October. These will affect the in-store display of many crisps and snack products in prominent locations including checkouts, store entrances, aisle ends, plus their online equivalents.”
The legislation will only apply to stores that are over 2,000 sq ft or have more than 50 members of staff, so some smaller convenience stores will not face any restrictions. “However, those stores that are affected could consider changing their store layout to ensure customers are still seeing their favourite products, even though they can’t be displayed in the way they have been previously,” adds Beck. “This could come in the form of widening aisles to accommodate space for Free Standing Display Units (FSDUs), or introducing a seasonal aisle, if they don’t already have one.”
As HFSS restrictions apply to any area in-store that sits outside of the main aisle in prime impulse buying space, many brands, including Kettle, are developing products that are HFSS compliant. This includes recently launched Kettle Bread Bites and work is currently ongoing to reformulate the Metcalfe’s and Mamomasa brands too.
“As well as encouraging shoppers to trade up to premium snacking options, it’s also important to consider value and Kettle offers a good option here,” says Beck.
The smaller 80g sharing bags, price-marked at £1, are very popular in convenience and available in the five top selling seasonings of Lightly Salted, Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar, Mature Cheddar & Red Onion, Sweet Chilli & Sour Cream, Sea Salt & Crushed Black Peppercorns, as well as new Steakhouse Barbecue.
Ideal for social ‘get togethers’ with friends and family, Kettle’s PMP formats provide shoppers with a visual short-cut to highlight good value and streamline the purchase journey to drive more sales.
As well as BBQs and summer entertaining occasions, crisps and snacks, along with accompanying soft & alcoholic drinks are always popular during sporting occasions. This summer will see Wimbledon and the Commonwealth Games, plus between October and December, the Rugby Union Women’s World Cup, Rugby League World Cup, Men’s T20 Cricket and the FIFA World Cup are all taking place.
The FIFA World Cup is an extremely popular event to watch in the UK and has the largest share of adults to have watched or engaged with the tournament on TV in 2019. It is predicted more fans will be shopping for food and drink to enjoy whilst watching the event from home in comparison to when it’s held during the summer months and people gather at outside venues and pubs to watch the games.
In home consumption occasions are higher than pre-covid, resulting in more snacking occasions. Health, convenience and carrying out are likely to continue to be key, as the cost of living pressure will become a bigger factor in shopper choices. In addition, working from home looks here to stay, which means the shifted workday eating habits from previous lockdowns are likely to remain.
The best-selling Valeo Snackfoods products by brand and pack format within the convenience market are Kettle Lightly Salted 150g, 40g and 5x30g, Manomasa Manchego & Green Olive Tortillas 160g, Manomasa Green Lemon & Pink Peppercorn Tortillas 40g and Metcalfe’s Popcorn Sweet ‘n’ Salt 80g and 20g (IRI).
Kettle has launched a range of non-HFSS bread snacks. Kettle Bread Bites debuted earlier this year with three sharing products: Focaccia Bites with Sea Salt, Rosemary & Extra Virgin Olive Oil; Naan Bites with Spiced Onion Bhaji; and Sourdough Bites with Parmigiano Reggiano & Balsamic Vinegar of Modena.
The triple-baked snacks are made with real food ingredients baked into the dough for a unique crunchy texture and are intended to be eaten straight from the bag or warmed in the oven. The new snack range is aimed at consumers looking for ‘better-for-you’ snacks without compromising on taste and will help encourage shoppers to take a step out of their normal routine when browsing the snacking aisle.
In addition to the new Kettle Bread Bites, Valeo Snackfoods is reformulating two of its other snack brands to make them HFSS compliant. Metcalfe’s popcorn is already a healthier snacking option at under 100 calorie per serving, and is further adjusting its Sea Salt, Cinema Sweet and Sweet n Salt popcorn to ensure they are HFSS compliant. All three redeveloped products are set to hit shelves this summer.
Manomasa, a range of premium tortilla chips in both sharing and single serve formats, is also adapting its range to make the products HFSS compliant, which will also launch later this year.
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