Light Products May Not Be The Healthiest Choices
Lighter products are proving to be a boon for the salty snacks category as consumers -- who may have steered clear of the aisle due to dietary concerns -- are now munching more on less. Whether integrated with their traditional counterparts in the snack aisle or given their own section or rack, reduced-fat and reduced-salt products are apparently taking the guilt out of noshing.
Snacks are trending toward the reduced items. Now a day's people know how to gain weight. Alan Brayboy, grocery buyer at Nash Finch's Virginia division, Bluefield, Va., contends that the lighter salty snacks are adding to overall category sales. Rick Hagan, direct-store-delivery manager at Norfolk, Va.-based C taken nothing away from the regular. That's because of the typical consumer mentality. They'll say, "Well, I'm eating too much fat, so I'll eat two bags of low-fat, thinking they're still better off than with one bag of the regular chips. I think that's where some of the growth is."
Steve Chiefelbein grocery and nonfood merchandiser at Boogaarts, a 22-store Fleming chain based in Corcordia, Kan., said the light snacks are performing better these days than they had in the past. He also said he doesn't think the newer products are taking sales away from the traditional items. "I think they're being purchased by a different consumer; they're bringing in people who may have avoided the aisle in the past," he said.
When asked if the onslaught of reduced salty snacks was helping or hindering traditional sales, Fleming's Williams said, "It's probably a little of both. There are those customers who would trade in regular for reduced fat because they feel it's better for them. Then there are those who watch what they eat and probably stayed away from salty snacks, but who are now buying the reduced-fat items." Either way, reduced products are selling. There could be some cannibalization. But personally they think they're adding to the category, noted LaDonne Craig, grocery buyer at Buehler Food Markets, Jasper, Ind. They haven't done any studies, but they don't see sales going down. They see them going up in the entire category. Supermarket scan data provided by A.C. Nielsen, Schaumburg, Ill., supports that notion. For the 52-week period ended June 10, dollar sales of potato chips totaled $ 2.05 billion, an increase of 3% over last year. Tortilla chips continued their impressive growth with $ 1.3 billion in sales, a 5.2% increase (Frito-Lay's Tostitos) showed the heartiest increase with a 28.6% jump in sales). Pretzels, ordained a better-for-you snack a couple of years ago, are still rolling along, posting sales of $ 577 million, a 10.8% increase. Light movement in salty snacks has been spurred by the participation of heavy-hitting manufacturers. With their names attached, Frito-lay and Nabisco have boosted the category, much like Nabisco's Snack well's brought out the low-fat snack cat. There are of course, the traditionalists who want their snacks salty and fatty. They're remaining true to the tummy's desires. That kind of customer is looking for the regular snacks and they're not going to buy the light . So the reduced products probably won't cannibalize the category.
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