Focus on Crisps, Nuts and Bagged Snacks: 20 April

By Nick Hughes nick@nickhugheswriting.com 

Publishing: 20 April 2024

Advertising deadline: 5 April 2024

Submissions deadline: 30 March 2024

Print, digital and sponsorship opportunities

Are crisps getting hotter and hotter? Recent launches of crisps with flavours such as katsu curry and jerk sauce and a range with five levels of heat intensity certainly make it seem so. What’s behind the fiery kick – and how long will it dominate crisp flavours?

Heat factor: Why are brands pulling out the stops on heat? How long until they max out on spice? What are the different iterations of hot crisps?

Throwback to tradition: Some brands are going against the grain with the return to plainer crisps, for instance, one brand launched its “classic crisps” aimed at the over 55 set. Is this an untapped opportunity? With heat on trend, how big is the market for plainer crisps?

Inflation: With the average price of a packet of crisps up by 12.7%, what are brands doing to entice consumer to buy? What role are promotions playing? Are interesting flavours paying off in sales? And how are much smaller own label crisps faring against brands?

Packaging: At least one brand has recently launched (in store) recyclable crisp packets. With inflation high, is more packaging innovation likely? When will consumers demand that crisps get greener?

Health trends: This January, Marigold Health Products made its first foray into healthy snacking, adding its Engevita nutritional yeast to popcorn. With health trends flying high, could we see more nutritional yeast entering popcorn?

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