Baking&Snack - July 2013 - 106

Making Snacks
Stand Out

Pack Expo Las Vegas offers resources
for snack food innovation
in a diversifying market.

by Tom Egan

Consumers snack more than ever, according to a poll published in Snacking Occasions Consumer Trend Report
released in March 2012, by Technomic, Inc, Chicago.
Projections put global snack food sales at $334 billion
by 2015, with a particular jump in consumer demand
for salty snacks — rising 6% over 2011 to $4.11 billion in
2015 — according to IRI, a Chicago-based research firm.
The snack industry also experienced some other significant increases in key categories. For instance, potato
chips sales are projected to reach $11.2 billion by 2015,
according to BMC Information services, New York. It
also estimated tortilla chips sales are expected to reach
$7 billion by 2015. Moreover, IRI reported pretzel sales
increased 12.3%, outselling cheese snacks in 2012.
A multicultural flavor trend is emerging as well.
Snacks with international flair including options featuring sweet potatoes, seaweed, lentils, chickpeas and black
beans continue to rise in popularity as do those that
include vegetable ingredients.
As snack marketers appeal to consumers’ expanding palates, they’re bringing new products to market
— and facing the challenge of differentiating their offerings on increasingly crowded store shelves. Just this
April, Omaha, NE-based ConAgra
Foods’ Orville Redenbacher brand
launched Pop Crunch, a ready-toeat air-popped snack said to have
half the fat of potato chips, and
Frito-Lay, Plano, TX,, released Lay’s
Wavy Garlic & Sea Salt-flavored potato chips. These products represent
just the tip of the iceberg of new

snacks hitting the consumer market so far this year.
Packaging must stand out, appeal to target shoppers
and articulate product benefits and brand value. It’s critical to the success of new snacks. The successful launch
of Ruffles’ Natural brand demonstrates what can happen
when all the right elements come together.
Frito-Lay first released the Ruffles’ Natural line in 2002
to meet consumer demands for more wholesome ingredients. In 2011, the company rolled out new packaging
for the line, and between 2011 and 2013, sales swelled by
314.5%. The new bags used a matte finish film and clearer
identification of ingredients through the use of icons.
Additionally, the new package illustrated the connection
between the finished product and natural ingredients by
depicting the chips sliced right from the potato. These
changes further the brand’s effort to clearly communicate
product value by unmistakably positioning nutritional
benefits and installing a visual element that consumers associate with more positive eating habits.
Brand owners striving to achieve similar success in
getting products from the store shelf to the shopping
cart should plan to attend Pack Expo Las Vegas 2013
at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Sept. 23-25.

Pack Expo Las Vegas 2013, Sept. 23-25 at the
Las Vegas Convention Center, will help baking
and snack professionals connect with suppliers
of innovative materials, containers and other
technologies to enhance shelf appeal and
product freshness.
PMMI

106

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