Focus On Crisps, Nuts & Bagged Snacks: 15 April

Publishing: 15 April 2023
Copy deadline: 5 April 2023
Advertising deadline: 31 March 2023

Feature one: Crisps & Savoury Snacks
By Harry Holmes Harry.Holmes@thegrocer.co.uk 

What a year for the fried spud. If rules barring high-salt products from impulse locations in-store weren’t enough for crisps, the rising costs of growing potatoes piled on further pressure. But it doesn’t seem to have hurt all that much, with standard crisps seeing rising value on flat volumes. So how has the crisp fixture successfully adapted at a tricky time? Why are alternatives such as reformed potato snacks suffering, and what could be done to change that? How is the balancing shifting between brands and own label? And how are promotions and marketing evolving?

Crisps: Shoppers were undeterred by average price rises in crisps worth more than 10%. How have crisps managed to weather inflation? And can the trend continue?

HFSS: Crisps were among the targets of the HFSS rules, and a long-time villain for junk food campaigners. How have the restrictions changed how they are merchandised in store? How have brands innovated and adapted?

Savoury snacks: Reformed potato snacks and other alternatives to crisps performed worse in the past year than regular crisps, despite facing similar pressures. What explains the gap? And how are these foods adapting?

Promotions: What promotions have been seen in crisps in the past year? How are strategies changing in light of the cost of living crisis?

Popcorn: Already a niche in salted snacks, popcorn volumes fell faster than peers in the past year, with prices rising sharply. How is the category performing in tricky economic conditions? What are suppliers doing to improve sales?

Innovations: We will profile 4 new products or ranges that have ideally not appeared in The Grocer before. We need launch date, rsp, and a hi-res picture of each

Feature two: Nuts
By Daniel Selwood Daniel.Selwood@thegrocer.co.uk 

Nuts dodged a bullet when they were exempted from the HFSS regulations. But the category has still seen falling sales over the past year, even with only modest average price increases. So why are nuts performing less well than crisps? How has merchandising of the category changed in-store given its absence from the HFSS rules? What innovation is bringing excitement to the category? And what impact is there likely to be from global shifts in nut commodity prices?

Decline: Nut sales are falling against other salted snacks. Why is this happening? And how might the decline be reversed?

Health: Unlike crisps, nuts are exempt from the HFSS restrictions. How has the category made the most of this advantage? And what other health benefits is it touting?

Commodity prices: Nuts have not been excluded from the volatility hitting other commodities. How are these cost shifts affecting the price of retail nuts? And how are suppliers adapting?

Innovations: We will profile 4 new products or ranges that have ideally not appeared in The Grocer before. We need launch date, rsp, and a hi-res picture of each