Health Claims – An Important Driver of Salty Snack Sales
While salty snacks are traditionally considered an indulgent snacking category, certain health claims in the category are bolstering growth.
Salty snacks is one of the categories that is leading growth in the individual snacking market, according to a recent Nielsen press release. This increasing segment has many things going for it, including more product offerings in more flavors than in previous years. Of note, regular salty snacks saw innovation drive 59% absolute dollar growth in 2016, according to Information Resources Inc. (IRI).
In addition, Nielsen reports that “annual household spending on individually-packaged snacks has increased 1.1% over the previous year with almost every household (98%) in the U.S. purchasing these items at least once for quick and convenient consumption. Large families – specifically with five or more members – index the highest out of all household groups, purchasing 16% more individually packaged snacks than the average family.” Regarding salty snacks in particular, IRI finds that households with adults between the ages of 36 and 55 years of age are 1.5 times more likely to buy salty snacks.
While several individual single-serve grab-and-go snacking categories have experienced sales gains from 2013 to 2016, salty snacks are up 6% for the 52 weeks ending September 9, 2017, Nielsen reports. Single-serve grab-and-go salty snacks, which Nielsen categorizes as salty snacks less than 3.5 ounces and snack mixes less than 5 ounces, comprise 5 percent dollar share across snacking categories (All Outlet Combined) with dairy, bars and confection leading the category overall.
Whereas several traditional and healthy snack categories are realizing gains, Nielsen has found that products making health claims are experiencing the greatest sales growth. For example, while salty snacks are traditionally considered an indulgent snacking category, certain health claims in the category are bolstering growth. The total snack-sized salty snacks category experienced a 3.2% 5-year compound annual growth rate in dollar sales for the year ending September 30, 2017, Nielsen says. More impressively, snack-sized salty snacks that featured non-GMO and gluten free health claims saw 29.3% and 27.6% 5-year compound annual growth rates, respectively, for the same time period. In addition, products featuring the health claims free from artificial colors and/or flavors, organic, and no preservatives, grew 26.4%, 24.5% and 24.1% in 5-year compound annual growth rates, respectively, for the same time period.
Nielsen advises the food industry that offering “quality healthy options across all channels, including convenience, will allow consumers to choose the snacking products that are right for them without sacrificing their preferred diet.”
[1] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC. “Individual Snacking Categories on the Rise in the U.S.” 22 Nov 2017. Accessed on 7 Dec 2017. Retrieved from http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2017/individual-snacking-categories-on-the-rise-in-the-us.html
[2] Parker, Liz. “Salty Snacks Experiment with New Flavors, Vegetables.” 17 Aug 2017. Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery. Accessed on 7 Dec 2017. Retrieved from https://www.snackandbakery.com/articles/90544-salty-snacks-experiment-with-new-flavors-vegetables?
[3] Lyons Wyatt, Sally. “2017 State of the Snack Food Industry.” 2017. Information Resources, Inc. (IRI). Accessed on 7 Dec 2017. Retrieved from https://www.iriworldwide.com/IRI/media/video/2017%20State%20of%20the%20Snack%20Food%20Industry.pdf
[4] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC.
[5]Lyons Wyatt, Sally.
[6] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC.
[7] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC.
[8] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC.
[9] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC.
[10] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC.
[11] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC.
[12] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC.
[13] The Nielsen Company (US), LLC.