Snac World - Official State of the Industry 2022 - 34

POTATO CHIPS
STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
GOES
EVERYTHING
New shapes, sizes, textures and flavors drive potato chip creativity.
T
Talk to purists today, and they'll argue that many
potato chips don't deserve to be called that by
name. For decades, the hard-core connoisseurs of
this category asserted that only slices of potatoes
fried in oil can make the potato chip claim.
But so much has changed over the years that
the family of potato chips now includes cousins and
distant relatives that are baked, popped, puffed,
sheeted from potato flakes and even include a variety
of seeds, grains and many other ingredients.
Just look at Kellogg Company's Pringles brand,
which some old-timers might call a fabricated
potato crisp. Sales of the brand are rising at a double-digit
rate, and the company has turned up the
heat with the Pringles Scorchin' lineup that now
includes a Scorchin' Wavy Loaded Nachos variety
that doesn't get soggy in addition to its spicy BBQ,
Cheddar and Chili & Lime flavors.
Certainly, flavor is the vehicle that steers consumers
to the snack aisle, but don't count out the
classic salted varieties any time soon. Some 35%
to 40% of consumers expressed a preference
for strong, novel and varied flavors, noted Innova
Market Insights, in an August 2021 report. At the
same time, 20% to 25% said that they preferred
mild, light and traditional tastes.
Innova's report also stated that delivering variety
is vital in snack innovation. That's certainly the case
with the new Lay's Layers, a multi-dimensional, airy
bite-sized snack that came out in 2022 in Three
Cheese and Sour Cream & Chive flavors.
Utz Brands recently came out with new potato
chip flavors under various brands, including Utz
Ripple Potato Chips with its classic Cheese Balls
Cheddar Cheese flavor. Other innovations by the
company include Boulder Canyon Spicy Green
Chili kettle-style potato chips fried in avocado oil,
while its Golden Flake brand rolled out a Kickin' Dill
Ranch chip that's positioned as a Southern favorite.
Meanwhile, Kettle Brand potato chips enjoys a
premium position in a large, mainstream segment,
noted Valerie Oswalt, executive vice president
and president of Campbell Snacks. The company
refined the brand's positioning to be focused on
" Extra in a Good Way. " She described the brand as
34
SNAC WORLD 2022
CATEGORY INNOVATIONS
 In a spin on the better-for-you and sustainability front,
Dieffenbach's Potato Chips expanded its Uglies Kettle Chips
line, which is made with imperfect potatoes. A Cheddar
and Sour Cream flavor joins Sea Salt, Salt and Vinegar,
Barbecue, Jalapeño and Buffalo Ranch varieties.
 Frito-Lay turned to other snack categories to add flavor
to the potato chip aisle with Lay's Doritos Cool Ranch and
Lay's Wavy Funyuns Onion flavors.
 Pringles showed off some holiday packaging innovation
for Halloween with limited-edition Oooriginal and Sour
Scream & Onion snacks in Glow-in-the-Dark cans.
 Many potato chip producers turn to co-branding to bring
new flavors to the snack aisle. Utz Brands, for instance,
recently rolled out Utz Grillo's Pickles flavored potato chips.
Snac World - Official State of the Industry 2022

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