Milling & Baking News - July 4, 2017 - 12

Business X

Snyder's-Lance seeks broader
distribution for products
"We've gone from 34 flavor proPARIS - Snyder's-Lance, Inc. has
its sights set on a number of pockets files to 70 over the course of 10 or 12
of growth, from expanding distribu- months," Mr. Pease said. "We have
tion of key brands across the United no intention of going to half a dozen
States to exploring ways to break flavors of Kettle. That would be sort
into new categories, said Alexander of death for the brand, given the tarW. Pease, chief financial officer and get - the millennial consumer that
we're targeting. What we are saying
executive vice-president.
In a June 13 presentation at the is that they've had a very successDeutsche Bank Global Consumer ful and profitable growth run - at
Conference in Paris, Mr. Pease dis- 35 s.k.u.s (stock-keeping units). So
cussed the ways the Charlotte, N.C.-based snack maker
is differentiating itself in a
fiercely competitive snack industry.
Mr. Pease said the company's Northeast-focused Snyder's of Hanover brand has an
opportunity to roll out nationwide distribution and intends
to push the brand's consumer
base beyond the boomer segment and into the millennial
segment. Similarly, the company's Lance sandwich crackers,
a Southeast dominated brand,
may go national.
"Gaining cross-country distribution ... is clearly an opportunity," he said.
Mr. Pease said the company
also sees growth opportunities SNYDER'S-LANCE
in expanding the Snack Factory and maybe there needs to be more than
Late July brands to the perimeter of 35 but probably not all the way to
70. And so getting that formula right
the store.
will be important.
"(Kettle is) largely a West coastPop Secret challenges
One brand that is struggling to dominated brand. There is clearly
generate growth is Pop Secret, the opportunity on nationwide districompany's
microwave
popcorn bution for that brand to really fuel
the growth. There's also opportubrand.
"It's a boomer-focused category," nity through the D.S.D. (direct-store
Mr. Pease said of microwave pop- delivery) channel that we brought to
corn. "We're the No. 2 player. And the acquisition party. It was largely
so there's some work that needs to going direct to the market, which
be done around reminding consum- limited it more to the natural chaners of the event. And really evaluat- nel. We've got opportunities in club;
ing what can be done to stabilize that we've got opportunities in the natural section of the traditional grocery
category, in and of itself."
A little over a year after acquiring retailers. We've got opportunities
the Kettle chips business as part of in small bag format and food serits acquisition of Diamond Foods, vice. So there's a lot of potential for
Snyder's-Lance continues to look that brand."
Another area of opportunity exfor ways to drive future growth for
the brand. A heavily millennial-ori- ists in the cracker aisle, where Mr.
ented brand, Kettle stands for bold Pease said Snyder 's-Lance is underflavors and frequent flavor rotations, penetrated. Although the company
Mr. Pease said, a formula that has has a strong presence in sandwich
worked for the brand. Now, the com- crackers it is "basically nonexistent"
pany is trying to find the right bal- in the categories adjacent to sandwich crackers, he said.
ance to fuel growth.
12 / July 4, 2017 XMilling & Baking News

"We did introduce a cracker innovation aligned with the Snyder's
of Hanover brand called Wholey
Cheese!, which is giving us a new set
of facings in the cracker aisle directly aligned with a large competitor
in that space, but there is still more
room to go in the cracker aisle," Mr.
Pease said. "Bars, which you mentioned are an opportunity that we
effectively don't play in. That's a
pretty significant growth opportunity. We like meat snacks as an adjacency - obviously that's one of the
fastest-growing categories. So we see
a number of opportunities
both in the center of the store
as well as in the perimeter."
M.&A. to play key role
Meanwhile, Mr. Pease
said Snyder 's-Lance sees
M.&A. as "a big piece of
the growth algorithm going forward." While the
company doesn't expect
to make a broad move into
dairy or frozen products, he
said potential acquisitions
in adjacent categories are
part of the growth formula
for the company. Before that
happens, though, Snyder 'sLance is focusing on ensuring its platform is stable, he
said. The company will consider all options, he said, including divestments.
"The two candidates in the portfolio that are obviously worth continuing to monitor are Pop Secret, given
the category trends that we've seen,"
he said. "We feel confident in our
ability to renovate that brand. And
we feel as though we're the natural
owner for the time being. But obviously, we'll have to continue to monitor that as the situation develops.
"And then Emerald, which plays
in the snack nuts category, is quite
small. So it's only a 3% share in the
overall snack nuts; Planters is the
owner of the peanut subcategory.
Blue Diamond is the owner of the
almond subcategory. We view a significant opportunity in cashews, lining up some of our seasoning capability that we bring to the party with
the Kettle brand, with the ability of
cashews to basically be a good vehicle for seasoning. So we see a good
opportunity there to make Emerald
meaningful in this space, but obviously that would be one that we
have to evaluate if we can't get to
No. 1 or No. 2 position." MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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Milling & Baking News - July 4, 2017

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