This is all good news for snack manufacturers who tirelessly create products to satisfy the demands of busy lifestyles. Consumer reaction has been hearty and the total volume of snacks sold until April 2001 was up 4%. The only dampener on this success story is that the increased volume has not been reflected in the value, which has hardly moved forward at all. KP Foods marketing director Mandy Ferguson says: "The main reason behind the volume/value difference is the level of promotional activity in the market, which has increased further this year. Multibuy and bogofs have been available, offering the consumer better value for money. This therefore has an impact on the value/volume mix." Lionel Wiggins client service director TNS Impulse points out another contributing factor: "The actual prices of key individual brand/sizes has also fallen significantly as the branded portfolio gains ground against own label (OL 23.4 to 21.2 yr/yr £)" Despite this Ferguson remains optimistic: "Savoury snacks are showing around 2% value growth year-on-year. Using these continued anticipated growth rates the market is estimated to grow by an additional £108m by 2005." Innovation, innovation, innovation Yes, you guessed it... innovation is the buzz word of the industry this year. Not just in terms of creating new products but also revamping established brands and relaunching older ones. Nestlé Rowntree's sales communications manager Graham Walker explains: "It's important for retailers to recognise that innovation does not have to amount to the development of entirely new brands. At present we're focusing very clearly on innovation through renovation ­ revitalising and expanding the portfolios." A flurry of variations on a theme have been created as a result of this kind of strategy, such as Nestlé Rowntree's Aero Honeycomb, Golden Wonder's Wotsits Wafflers and KP Snacks' Hula Hoops XL. Relaunches include Red Mills' Transform-A-Snack and Walkers Square ­ the rebranding of the Smith's Square crisps. Insights vice president Angus McIver says the response has been overwhelming: "Although it's a relaunch, Squares is already the fourth biggest snack in impulse." Innovation is seen as a crowd puller and of benefit to the category as a whole. Jacob's marketing director Graham Hunter says: "The most successful innovations succeed in growing the number of eating occasions and thus the total value of the category." However, he also warns against imitations and duplications, saying: "Duplicated products are competing for the same eating occasion and therefore do not increase the total market but drive down the unit price." A crowded market Hunter's sentiments are echoed by the fact that 20% of the 500 lines account for 80% of the category's value. Of the 154 brands launched in the last two years, the top 10 account for 79% of total newproduct sales. This leaves 144 doing very little, except, according to some in the industry, cluttering up the fixture. Golden Wonder category marketing director Kirsty Taylor says: "This highlights that a lot of new products are confusing both retailers and shoppers and doing very little for the category." This, in a largely impulse market, is not a positive situation. Whitworths category manager Steve Hollick says: "BMRB conducted research amongst 950 adults, identifying that 37% of all respondents snacked on impulse. The UK multiples are yet to provide consumers with a comprehensive, well merchandised range of snacking products in one location in-store." Even so, the smaller manufacturers feel they are not represented enough. Union Snack, producer of Penn State pretzels, would like to see retailers feature new products much more than they do at the moment. Sales and marketing coordinator Kim McKie says: "Retailers need to support the smaller brands in addition to the big brands and allow them space to encourage growth within the sector." Most manufacturers seem united in their desire for retailers to rethink the display of the snacks fixture. Most want to see more dual siting and many call for more meal deals. Walker explains: "The key is to link like products from different categories. Research has shown that people buying sandwiches do so with a mental lunch box image in their mind, often consisting of a sandwich, confectionery and soft drink." He believes this strategy could generate at least an 18% uplift in sales. New trends Consumers seem to be attracted to four main types of snack at the moment: eat on the go', healthy alternatives, meal substitutes and sophisticated adult snacks with a bit of zing. In response, manufacturers have created an array of imaginative offerings. Many have gone mini' to make it easier to consume on the hoof ­ packed in convenient-sized bags for the lunch box or pocket. There is also a choice of meal substitutes on the market that straddle the boundaries between snack and meal and number of healthy options. However, McIver takes a refreshing view of the healthy' snack sector: "There is still a relatively low demand for healthier snacks, consumers tend to look at our category as a little indulgence worth having without the taste compromise, they believe inherent in healthy' snacks." There is plenty of choice on the market to satisfy the adult palette. From Thai and Indian to just plain really hot' poppadums and rice crackers.Snacking has also spilled out into the home with big bags and dippers for the sofa snacker. The snack sector is now gearing itself up for Christmas when the demand for snacks it at its highest ­ KP, for one, make 40% of its annual nuts sales during this period. With this in mind the festive season could prove to be the ideal opportunity for the snack industry to redress the balance between value and volume. {{Z SUPPLEMENTS }}