SALTY SNACKS

RICHARD TURCSIK

It pays to display.

That doctrine, along with constant advertising, is crucial in building salty snack sales.

Retailers said displays help attract consumers to the category and are also useful for generating trial of the new "better-for-you" reduced fat and sodium snack foods making their way to store shelves.

"We basically have a salty snack in every ad," said Jeff Savage, category manager at Randalls Food Markets, Houston. "We use off-gondola displays in all of our stores. It is not a mandated program, but the stores understand the profitability and the high turns that we see on salty snacks."

He added, "Our base business in the salty snacks has really increased by about 10% over the last 16 months. We see it as a really profitable segment for us."

Savage said Randalls frequently cross-merchandises its displays with soft drink companies to build sales in both product categories.

"We also tie in consumer contests with soft drink and salty snack companies. Pepsi and Frito-Lay are a perfect tie-in, as were Coke and Eagle before Eagle went defunct," he said, referring to the Eagle Snacks division recently closed by Anheuser-Busch Cos.

A direct-store-delivery buyer at a leading Midwestern wholesaler, who did not wish to be identified, said snack food displays are a mainstay at his company's corporate stores.

"We have big displays every day of the week, 365 days a year, and they really work at building our sales," he said.

"We advertise snack foods every single week, and we back up our ads with displays," said Tom Lazar, buyer at Kessel Food Markets, Flint, Mich.

Kessel stocks the national Frito-Lay and Borden's Jay's snacks, along with the Maid Rite and Cabana local brands, and its own private label. "In fact we have several displays in the store. We have the main feature, which gets the big display, and then we have other displays," Lazar added, noting displays are rotated weekly.

"We use category management to help plan our promotions. Most salty snacks respond well to display and promotion," said Peter Dudis, director of grocery operations at Big Y Foods, Springfield, Mass.

"Typically we promote our salty snacks through special deals and endcap displays," Johnny McDade, buyer at Harvey's Supermarkets, Nashville, Ga., told SN. "We find that helps move the product through."

Salty snack sales also are getting a boost each February from National Snack Food Month, which was the brainchild of the Snack Food Association, Alexandria, Va., and the National Potato Promotion Board.

Now in its eighth year, National Snack Food Month has been steadily building in importance, according to its organizers.

"We've had both retailers and snack food suppliers indicate that they have seen significant increases in sales as a result of displays built during National Snack Food Month -- as much as 400%," said Jane Schultz, vice president of communications at the National Snack Food Association.

"Retailer interest has been increasing each year, and it is probably growing at a faster pace than the snack food supplier interest. That is good because it is putting pressure on the snack food suppliers to participate when they might not otherwise do so. The retailers have really found it to be a successful program and are calling us directly for information. They really think it is a good way for them to increase sales in their stores," she said.

One retailer that has been using National Snack Food Month to build sales is Macey's, a five-unit independent based in Sandy, Utah. Indeed, in 1995 Macey's Sandy location won first prize in the contest for an "out of this world" display that was 60 feet long and 11 feet high and featured a Frito-Lay space shuttle, a 5-foot papier-mache globe spinning on its axis and a Munchman from outer space.

"Last year our display created a lot of excitement in the stores. A festive atmosphere developed, and helped to build sales throughout the store. People were picking up a lot of other stuff in addition to the salty snacks," Darren Davis, store manager, told SN.

While several major retailers contacted by SN said for various reasons they were not participating in National Snack Food Month, the event is on the promotion calendar at Charlotte, N.C.-based Harris Teeter.

"National Snack Food Month is promoted at the store management level, with each manager having the ability to create their own in-store displays," said Ruth Ellen Kinzey, manager of corporate communications.

According to Information Resources Inc., Chicago, snack foods are a growing category in supermarkets. For the 52-week period ended Dec. 3, 1995, the chips and snacks category had supermarket sales of $5.6 billion, a 4.6% increase over the previous 52-week period, and a 2.3% increase in volume.

The area exhibiting the biggest increase in sales is the "better-for-you" category. According to Consumer Reports magazine, by the end of the decade, better-for-you snacks will encompass one-third of the snack food market.

Retailers also find the better-for-you salty snacks to be gaining popularity with consumers.

"We find that the continuing drive to healthy eating does have an impact on salty snack sales," said Dudis of Big Y.

"People are wanting to try the new reduced fat items. In our operating area, the new salty snack trend is that people will switch to reduced fat and fat-free products if they taste good. After all, this is an indulgent category," he said.

Savage of Randalls said his chain has been resetting its aisles as a result of Eagle Snacks going out of business. In most of the resets, about 25%, and in some cases 30%, of the shelf space is now dedicated to the better-for-you products.

"While there will be some cannibalization from the traditional salty snacks, a lot of it is adding incremental sales. The Baked Lays introduction, especially, brought a lot of consumers that have not been in the category for a long time back to the aisle."

Kinzey of Harris Teeter said her chain's best-selling snacks are Tostitos, Doritos and pretzels. "We are seeing a trend toward healthier snacks, especially low-fat and 'healthy salty' varieties," she said.

Peter Jost, head buyer for grocery at Harp's Food Stores, Springdale, Ark., said that while any salty snack that is promoted sells well, the healthier varieties are especially picking up steam.

"There has been a lot of emphasis on the low-fat, with SnackWells and all of those items. We're doing real well on all of those items, including the SnackWells and the Air Crisps," he said.

Lazar of Kessel Food Markets said the health-oriented pretzels are "selling amazingly well" in his stores, as are the other better-for-you products.

"All of the low-fat items are doing very well. In fact, Frito-Lay is having a hard time keeping the Baked Lays on the shelf. They have become like SnackWells were when they came out," he said.

McDade of Harvey's said light snacks are only beginning to take hold in his operating area.

"The light snacks are still a small percentage of the business, but they are attracting some new users to the category," he said.

However, not all retailers are doing well with salty snacks.

Larry Mink, head merchandiser at E.W. James & Sons, Union City, Tenn., said they are only doing fair in his stores.

"We are a rural people and don't go much for the salty snacks," he said.