Snack Food Aisle: Snack Attack
STORE PROFILE Concerns about children's snacking habits are driving healthy snack sales. SNACK AISLE W hat do your customers reach for when they're shopping for snacks? At Pan's Food Store in Oak Park, Ill., Annie's Homegrown Cheddar Bunny Crackers is one answer. Th e snacks made with organic cheddar cheese and organic wheat fl our are merchandised at moms'-eye level on a top cracker-aisle shelf. And they have been hopping into shopping carts since the store started stocking them early this year. Our customers are buying them, especially for their kids they're our most popular line of organic snacks, Jim Vlahos, owner of the family-run, neighborhood grocery, says. Pan's also sells Nature's Choice Organic and Nature's Path Organic Cereal Bars, Guiltless Gourmet tortilla chips, Doctor Kracker organic and artisan-baked fl atbread, and Newman-O's chocolate sandwich cookies made with organic fl our and sugar the latter added at a customer's request. If someone asks for a product, we try to bring it in, Vlahos explains. We have a little organic on everything, and we're trying to get it in all our product lines. Pan's story is not unique. Undeterred by the economic slump, shoppers nationwide are treating themselves to additive- and preservative-free snacks, and are willing to pay more for organic and premium treats that can boost their fl agging spirits over the long climb back to prosperity, the Packaged Facts report Sweet and Salty/Savory Snacks in the U.S.: Lifestyle Marketing and New Product Development in the New Economy, 3rd Edition reveals. Th at's good news for snack manufacturers and the retailers who carry their products. Th ough challenges abound ( ...the pressure is on to keep prices low, health benefi ts high, and production green, Tatjana Meerman, Publisher of Packaged Facts, says), one glance at sales data shows off ering an array of snacks makes good business sense. According to Packaged Facts, U.S. sales of packaged snacks will reach an estimated $81.6 billion by 2013 a 20 percent increase over the $68 billion experienced in 2008 (which was up from the reported $60.5 billion in 2004). Th e salty snack segment accounted for 23 percent of the IRI-tracked snacks market in 2008, posting $932 million in growth from 2004 to 2008 the greatest dollar growth among all packaged snack segments the Packaged Facts' report says. Understanding the trends driving this surge, and identifying snack products with the best profi t potential, can help savvy retailers capture a healthy share of this burgeoning market. Harried lives + healthy habits = sales A downturn in restaurant dining, harried lifestyles, an increased demand for organics, and recognition that grazing (eating several small meals or snacks during the day instead of three large ones) are factors infl uencing snack consumption, the Packaged Facts report states. Eating smaller meals and snacks over the course of the day has become a popular eating pattern, Julie Van Rosendaal, author of Grazing: A Healthier Approach to Snacks and Finger Foods, says. Th e good news is that doctors and nutritionists all over the world believe it's the healthiest way to eat. Th ere's no doubt that people are grazing more on snacks and substituting meals with snack-able foods, Angela Liu, president and founder of Crispy Green Inc., makers of Crispy Green Crispy Fruit and FruitziO freeze-dried fruit snacks, concurs. What they're grazing on is not limited to the high-calorie, high-fat snacks of old. Consumers are embracing organic and natural products, and manufacturers are responding. In 2009 alone, companies introduced 200 new SKUs of other savory snacks; 116 of potato chips; 82 of nuts and seeds; 63 of processed snacks; and 29 of popcorn in the Organic and/or Natural Snacks category, according to Datamonitor's Product Launch Analytics for the 2009 year-to-date period ended Sept. 17, 2009. Today, consumers seek taste fi rst, but they also are very tuned into their health and to products they perceive make them healthier, Steve Whitley, vice president of sales at Majan's Bhuja, notes. Th e company makes several varieties of the crunchy Indian snack mix called Bhuja, which Whitley says covers that dual positioning...something with great taste, but also very nutritious. Trend No. 1 is quality... customers are looking for and appreciate wholesome foods made with quality ingredients and they're scrutinizing labels, echoes Irene Costello, co-owner with Joan MacIsaac of Effi e's Homemade, makers of Effi e's Oatcakes and the new Crispy Corncakes, all made with 100 percent natural ingredients and sold in 100 percent recyclable packaging. Th e oatcakes are particularly popular Snack Attack DEMAND FOR HEALTHY TREATS SWELLS AS ECONOMY SLUMPS By Kathleen Furore Natural Food Network Contributor Natural Food Network 15 Natural Food Network 15