Milling & Baking News - June 30, 2020 - 26

Consumer Trends

Value and taste take center stage
in snacks amid COVID-19
©WHITESTORM - STOCK.ADOBE.COM

oving into the second half of
2020 and beyond, everything
will be different. Coronavirus
(COVID-19) has impacted almost every global market. For consumer trends,
there's now a pre- and post-pandemic
caveat with March as the turning point,
especially when it comes to snacking.
Overall, recent data from Information
Resources, Inc. (IRI) indicate that snacks
are no longer assigned to a specific day
part, and consumers have been increasing their snacking occasions. On the average, US consumers are eating 2.6 snacks
a day, with 42% reporting they consume
more than three per day. Additionally,
44% of consumers said they often ate
snacks instead of meals at home and at
work. That was pre-COVID-19.
Post-COVID-19, those numbers point
to a big opportunity. Sally Lyons Wyatt,
executive vice president and practice
leader, client insights, for IRI, said snack
companies need to act now to capitalize
on the potential growth in the category.
"All coronavirus has done is made
the trends that were already redefining
snacking even more important," Ms. Lyons Wyatt said.
The market was seeing strong growth
going into the pandemic. IRI research indicated core items like salty snacks showed
4.7% dollar growth in the 52 weeks ended
June 16, 2019, and ended the year with
more than $19.2 billion in sales.
Ms. Lyons Wyatt recommended that
snack companies balance price with quality and wellness attributes to capitalize
on growing interest during and after the
pandemic. She also advised leveraging
targeted media to reach consumers in their
homes and develop online strategies to attract and retain snack consumers.
Learning from the past
One of the best ways to predict the future is to look at the past. While nothing
quite compares to COVID-19, there are
clues that can be gleaned from previous
periods of economic hardship.

26 / June 30, 2020

Milling & Baking News

Ms. Lyons Wyatt noted that data re- Goldfish climbed more than 20% in the
corded during and after the 2008 reces- four-week period ended March 21.
sion can provide context for today. IRI's
"As you have more people eating in
"State of the Snack Industry" report in home - including lunches where a lot of
2009 emphasized that value was key and our products play a very important role -
that snack companies needed to reach you're seeing the sustainment of that deconsumers at home. Back then, the ad- mand now over time, and it's not isolated
vice was to align strategies with new con- to any particular part of the country and
sumer rituals.
even across our entire portfolio," he said.
Ms. Lyons Wyatt identified three critiMr. Clouse emphasized that the stratecal factors that snack producers must gy now is to produce and distribute food
consider, just as they did more than a safely and quickly.
decade ago. The first is price. IRI data
Ms. Lyons Wyatt predicted that snackshow that in 2019, 72% of survey
ing will see increased sales
respondents - an increase of 4
through the COVID-19 recovery
percentage points over two years
and into the recession period.
- said they look at price before
She said snack companies may
choosing a snack.
lose traditional impulse purResearch from Nielsen supchases because more people are
ports this theory. A survey from
ordering online and avoiding
2019 showed that 75% of US
stores. She said they also may
respondents said they believe
switch to private label snacks
it's important to always get the
because of their value proposibest price on a product, and onetion. She advised snack compathird will prioritize price when
nies to make brands more availit comes to what they consume
able online and communicate
PEPPERIDGE FARM
over the next five years.
the shift to consumers.
The next critical factor, Ms. Lyons WyTom Rees, food and nutrition industry
att said, is broad family appeal. Together manager at Euromonitor International,
with price, this was a major driver for said focusing on the e-commerce channel
consumers during the recession.
for growth in 2020 will be key.
"In 2009, when I talked to consumers,
"Targeting consumers who have expeprice along with broad appeal to more rienced the advantages of e-commerce
people in the household had 81% of shop- during the outbreak will allow producers
pers citing that these were important con- to push a greater diversity of snack opsiderations when determining the afford- tions and more indulgent lines than storeability of a product," she explained.
based outlets, accelerating momentum
The third is taste.
in this channel, which has so far shown
"You can have a product priced right, moderate growth," Mr. Rees said.
but if it doesn't taste good, then the reEven with an increase in online purpeat purchase won't happen," Ms. Lyons chasing, Ms. Lyons Wyatt said snack
Wyatt warned. "Too many products on companies should determine which
the market today fit the needs of consum- channel is best for them. That's because
ers and also taste good, so the bar is high mass market stores, value stores and club
for taste."
stores should also see a continued boost
in sales through COVID-19. Ms. Lyons
Wyatt said these channels will be big
Channeling growth during COVID-19
In a March interview with CNBC, Mark drivers of growth because of their value
Clouse, chief executive officer, Camp- propositions. MBN
bell Soup Co., Camden, NJ, said sales of
- Nico Roesler
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Milling & Baking News - June 30, 2020

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