The Institute of Food Technologists newsletter, The Weekly , reported today a new study by market research firm Mintel showing a rebound in potato chip sales. Mintel found other salty snack sales also on the rise and attributed it to the economic recession and the perception that salty snacks offer "good value."
Half of children, teens and young adults eat salty snacks five times or more weekly; adults average 4.8 salty snack indulgences. Mintel reported that
the potato chip market grew 22% during the economic downturn. In addition, other salty snacks experienced recession-fueled sales jumps. The tortilla chip market increased by 18% since 2007, while smaller segments like popcorn and cheese snacks saw similar gains (17% and 20%, respectively). Now that economic recovery is starting to take hold, however, Mintel expects sales increases to taper. Over the next five years, potato chip sales are expected to rise just above 3% annually, while tortilla chip sales should increase just above 4%.
“People bought more chips during the recession because they're a good value,” said Chris Haack, Senior Analyst at Mintel. “As the economy gets stronger, we expect annual sales increases to slow, but we don't expect markets to contract. New product innovations and the changed eating habits of many Americans will keep shoppers headed towards the snack aisle.”
Mintel further reported that half of its survey respondents "confess" they think "lower fat/sodium snacks don't taste as good as the originals." That finding may indicate an anti-salt bias; one might have expected far larger numbers to prefer the original recipes.
Log in or create a user account to comment.