While potato chips continue to be the big revenue driver for salty snacks, strong growth in the ready-to-eat popcorn/caramel corn category and with alternative fruit and vegetable (i.e., non-potato) chips led the salty snack segment in terms of sales growth in 2015. Both of these categories fit nicely with the fast-growing trend of “better-for-you snacking†while also providing the sense of indulgent satisfaction most snackers still crave. The $22.5 billion salty snack market in 2015 also saw an incredible proliferation of flavors appearing on snacks hitting the shelves, from unique tastes such as Tom Yum soup on pretzels, to more traditional but almost new again sweet and salty combinations on traditionally savory snacks such as potato chips and tortilla chips. These trends will continue to be crucial for marketers to embrace over the next five years, with the increasing number of snacking instances helping to push the salty snack market to $27.0 billion by 2020.
What You’ll Get in This Report
This fourth edition of Salty Snacks in the U.S. provides an in depth analysis of salted snack products and sales through all channels in the U.S. market, focusing on the key categories of snacks driving the market and highlighting the trends that are driving sales. No other market research report provides both the comprehensive analysis and extensive data Salty Snacks in the U.S., 4th Edition offers. Moreover, all information and analyses in the report is highly accessible, presented in concise text and easy-to-read and practical charts, tables, and graphs.
Report Methodology
The information in Salty Snacks in the U.S., 4th Edition was obtained from primary datasets including IRI’s Infoscan from its multi-outlet (MULO)-tracked point of sale data, SPINS SPINSscan point-of-sale data from natural channel grocers, and consumer survey data compiled by Experian Simmons. Other primary research includes interviews with salty snack experts, on-site examination of retail and service provider venues, and Internet canvassing including websites and blogs. Secondary research includes information- and data-gathering from consumer business and trade publications, company profiles, and Packaged Facts’ own extensive food & beverage research database and report collection.
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Chapter 1: Executive Summary
Scope & Methodology
U.S. Salty Snack Market & Forecast
Table 1-1 U.S. Retail Sales of Salty Snacks, 2010-2020 (million $)
Salty Snack Sales by Channel
Current Market Trends
Future Market Trends
Marketers and Brand Shares
Table 1-2 Top 5 Marketers by IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Salty Snacks, 2015 (thousand $)
Competitive Highlights of Salty Snack Categories
Potato Chips
Tortilla/Tostada Chips
Other Salted Snacks
Pretzels
Cheese Snacks
Ready-to-Eat Popcorn/Caramel Corn
Corn Snacks (No Tortilla Chips)
Competitive Trends
Most Popular Salty Snack Brands
Snyder’s-Lance Grows its “Better-for-you†Snack Profile with Diamond Foods Acquisition
New Product Trends
Alternative Chips
Salty and Healthy Snacks
Sweet & Salty – The Perfect Combination
Unique Flavors
Marketing Trends
The Retail Marketplace
Effective Salty Snacks Placement
Grocery Stores
Convenience Stores
Online Sales
Private Label Salty Snacks
Consumer Trends
Table 1-3 Trends in Salty Snack Consumption in Households (HH), 2005–2015 (000 of households and percent)
Trends in High-Volume Salty Snack Consumption
Overall demographics for households
Popular Salty Snack Combinations
Individual Salty Snack Demographics
Millennials & Generation X Prefer Non-Traditional Chips
Chapter 2: Market Projections & Opportunities
Key Points
Scope
Methodology
Table 2-1 IRI/SPINS/Simmons NCS Salty Snack Categories, 2015 (ranking)
Topline Consumer-Based Opportunities
Healthy Snacking
Table 2-2 Eating Habits of Snackers, 2005 & 2015 (thousand people and percent)
Indulgent Snacking
Higher Volume Snacking
Flocking to Popcorn
Topline New Product Opportunities
Unique Flavors
Sweet & Salty
New Snack Shapes
Illustration 2-1: Doritos Jacked 3D Jalapeno Pepper Jack flavor by PepsiCo/Frito-Lay
Forecast
Table 2-3 U.S. Retail Sales Forecast for Salty Snacks, 2015–2020 (million $)
Chapter 3: Market Size & Segmentation
Key Points
U.S. Salty Snack Market up 20% Since 2010
Table 3-1 U.S. Retail Sales of Salty Snacks, 2010-2015 (million $)
Potato Chips Continue to Lead Salty Snack Sales
Table 3-2 U.S. Retail Sales of Salty Snacks by Category, 2015 (million $)
Salty Snack Sales by Channel
Figure 3-1 U.S. Salty Snack Sales by Retail Channel, 2015 (percent)
Potato Chips Tops in MULO-Tracked Sales
Table 3-3 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Salty Snacks (thousand $ and thousand lbs)
Tortilla Chips Take the Top Chip in Natural Channel Sales
Table 3-4 SPINS Natural Channel Sales of Salty Snacks (thousand $ and thousand lbs)
Market Trends
Salty Snack Categories with Strong Growth Draw new Brands
Table 3-5 New Brands by Salty Snack Category, 2015 (number of marketers and percent)
Figure 3-2 Percentage Sales Growth for Number of Brands by Category, 2015 (number of brands)
New Marketers Flock to Ready-to-Eat Popcorn
Table 3-6 New Marketers by Salty Snack Category, 2015 (number of marketers and percent)
Fast Growth of Alternate Chips Category in Mass Market Channels
Figure 3-3 Sales of Fruit & Vegetable Chips in Natural Channel & MULO-Tracked Sales (million $)
Table 3-7 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Alternative Chips (thousand $)
High-Volume Chip Households Growing Rapidly
Table 3-8 Number of Bags of Salty Snacks Consumed in Last 30 Days, 2005 & 2015 (thousand households and bags)
Chapter 4: The Marketers
Key Points
Marketers and Brand Shares
Top Selling Salty Snack Marketers
Table 4-1 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Salty Snacks (thousand $)
Table 4-1 [cont.] IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Salty Snacks (thousand $)
Competitive Highlights of Salty Snack Categories
Figure 4-1 MULO-Tracked Marketer Market Shares for Salty Snack Categories, 2015 (percent)
Potato Chips
Table 4-2 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Potato Chips (thousand $)
Tortilla/Tostada Chips
Table 4-3 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Tortilla/Tostada Chips (thousand $)
Other Salted Snacks
Pretzels
Table 4-4 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Other Salted Snacks (No Nuts) (thousand $)
Table 4-5 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Pretzels (thousand $)
Cheese Snacks
Table 4-6 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Cheese Snacks (thousand $)
Ready-to-Eat Popcorn/Caramel Corn
Table 4-7 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Ready-to-Eat Popcorn/Caramel Corn (thousand $)
Corn Snacks (No Tortilla Chips)
Table 4-8 IRI MULO-Tracked Mass Market Sales of Corn Snacks (No Tortilla Chips) (thousand $)
Competitive Trends
Most Popular Salty Snack Brands
Table 4-9 Potato Chip & Corn/Tortilla Chip/Cheese Snack Brand Popularity, 2015 (percent)
Table 4-10 Pretzel & Popcorn Brand Popularity, 2015 (percent)
4-11 Key Demographics of Salty Snack Use in Households by Popular Brand, 2015 (index)
Snyder’s-Lance Grows its “Better-for-you†Snack Profile with Diamond Foods Acquisition
Popchips Redefining itself in an Increasingly Competitive Space
Table 4-12 Popchips Key Positive and Negative Demographic Indicators, 2015 (index)
Unique Pretzel Bakery Snack Producer of 2016
Illustration 4-1: Unique Pretzel Bakery’s Sprouted Splits and Shells
Chapter 5: Marketing and New Product Trends
Key Points
New Product Trends
Most Successful New Products in Mass Market
Table 5-1 New Salty Snacks with IRI-Tracked Dollar Sales of at Least $1 Million (thousand $)
Alternative Chips
Illustration 5-1: Dang Foods’ line of toasted coconut chips
Illustration 5-2: Annie Chun’s new Seaweed Crisps
Salty and Healthy Snacks
Illustration 5-3: Snack Factory’s Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Flavored Crunch Minis
Illustration 5-4: Jolly Time’s Weight Watchers endorsed Kinda Sweet… Kinda Salty ready-to-eat popcorn
Packing in Protein
Illustration 5-5: Borden’s new Good2Gether cheese and pretzel snacks
Illustration 5-6: Power Puffs from Snack Out Loud Foods
Illustration 5-7: Meat Chips by Meat Chips LLC in four flavors
Getting your Daily Vegetables from Salty Snacks
Illustration 5-8: Pirate’s Booty Carrot Snacks
Illustration 5-9: Simply 7’s Dill Pickle flavored Kale Chips
The Power of Superfoods
Illustration 5-10: Rhythm Superfoods’ Jalapeño Lime flavored Baked Superfood Chips
Illustration 5-11: Quinoa Puffs by I Heart Keenwah
Sweet & Salty – The Perfect Combination
Illustration 5-12: Combos Sweet & Salty Chocolate Fudge Pretzel from Mars
Illustration 5-13: Wolfgang Candy Co.’s Classic Fountain Soda mini pretzels
Illustration 5-14: TGI Fridays’ Sweet Potato Skins
Unique Flavors
Illustration 5-15: Pretz baked snack sticks in Tom Yum flavor
Illustration 5-16: Eatsmart Snacks’ Sea Salt & Lime Dipping Chips
Illustration 5-17: Doritos Roulette tortilla chips
Seasonal Flavors
Illustration 5-18: Pringles Salted Caramel holiday flavored chips
Illustration 5-19: Snappers holiday flavors
Illustration 5-20: FunkyChunky’s Sweetheart Mix gourmet popcorn
Marketing Trends
Packaging to Entice
Illustration 5-21: New packaging for SnackWell’s Mini Yogurt Dipped Pretzels
Illustration 5-22: Sanders’ gourmet popcorn line with art inspired packaging
Partnering With Other Brands
Illustration 5-23: Utz Wavy Heluva Good! Potato Chips
Illustration 5-24: Terra Beauregard Sweets heirloom sweet potato chips
May the Merchandising Force be with You
Illustration 5-25: Popchips Star Wars packaged potato chips
Illustration 5-26: Pop Secret Extra Cheesy ready-to-eat popcorn featuring Chewbacca
Illustration 5-27: Cheez-It Special Edition Star Wars Snack Crackers
Chapter 6: The Retail Marketplace
Key Points
What Channels do Salty Snackers Shop?
Table 6-1 Store Preferences by Store Type and Type of Salty Snack, 2015 (percent and index)
Table 6-2 Store Preferences by Store Type and Type of High-Volume Salty Snack, 2015 (index)
Effective Salty Snacks Placement Varies by Channel
Grocery Stores & Salty Snacks
Table 6-3 Grocery Store Shopping Preferences by Retailer and Type of Salty Snack, 2015 (percent and index)
Convenience Store Trends
Table 6-4 Convenience Store Shopping Preferences by Retailer and Type of Salty Snack, 2015 (percent and index)
Salty Snacks Provide Strong Gross Margins for Convenience Owners
7-Eleven Enters Premium Indulgent & Healthy Snack Markets
Illustration 6-1: 7-Eleven’s new Go!Smart and Go!Yum healthy and indulgent snack lines
Online Sales: Boon & Potential Bane for Salty Snacks
Private Label Snack Trends
Figure 6-1 Consumption of Store Brand Salty Snacks (percent)
Illustration 6-2: Trader Joe’s Potato Chips with South African Style Seasoning
Illustration 6-3: Gold Emblem Abound White Cheddar Flavored Heavenly Light Popcorn by CVS Pharmacy
Chapter 7: Consumer Trends
Key Points
Current Household Salty Snack Use
Table 7-1 Households Consuming Snacks by Type of Snack, 2015(number and percent)
Long Term Trends
Table 7-2 Trends in Salty Snack Consumption in Households (HH), 2005–2015 (000 of households and percent)
Trends in High-Volume Salty Snack Consumption
Table 7-3 High-Volume Salty Snack Consumption Trends in Households (HH), 2005–2015 (000 of households and percent)
Overall demographics for households
Table 7-4 Demographics of Salty Snack Use in Households, 2015 (index)
Table 7-4 [Cont.] Demographics of Salty Snack Use in Households, 2015 (index)
Table 7-5 Breakdown of Demographics for Different Salty Snacks, 2015 (percent)
Table 7-5 [Cont.] Demographics of Salty Snack Use in Households, 2015 (percent)
Larger Households means more Salty Snacking
Table 7-6 Salty Snack Use by Number of People in Household, 2015 (index and percent)
Table 7-7 Snack and High-Volume Snack Consumption by Number of People in Household, 2015 (index)
Popular Salty Snack Combinations
Table 7-8 Salty Snack Consumption Combinations in Households, 2015 (index)
Individual Salty Snack Demographics
Figure 7-1 Consumer snacking preferences, 2005–2015 (percent)
Hispanic & African American Salty Snackers
Table 7-9 Key Demographics of Hispanic & African American Salty Snackers, 2015 (index)
Table 7-9 [Cont.] Key Demographics of Hispanic & African American Salty Snackers, 2015 (index)
Millennials & Generation X Prefer Non-Traditional Chips
Table 7-10 Snack Consumption by Age of People in Household, 2015(index and 000 households)
