Walkers Poppables

PepsiCo has unveiled the latest of its “fun to eat” Walkers lineups, Poppables.

Joining the likes of Mix Ups and Bugles on shelf from late May, Poppables is a “light and airy” spherical potato snack in Sweet Chilli, Cheddar Cheese and BBQ Ribs variants, flavoured inside and out.

The brand was “already a huge success in the US” said PepsiCo, and its 110g format (rsp: £1.99) would appeal in the UK to the “increasing number of households looking for sharing snacks for big nights in”.

“We are seeing strong growth from the sharing segment and anticipate the launch of Poppables driving growth through a fun, new shaped snack”, said Kate Charman, brand manager at PepsiCo.

Sweet Chilli will also be available in 60g (rsp: £1) and 25g (rsp: 65p) packs.

The launch comes with take-home value sales of crisps up 3.7% on volumes up 1.9% [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 28 January 2018]. However, Walkers’ leading ‘fun’ lines have not been so successful recently. Mix Ups plunged in value last year by 25.8% to £11.2m, while Bugles were up just 0.7% to £13m [Nielsen 52 w/e 30 December 2017].