Overall, sales in the salty snack category grew 4.32 percent over the last year, for a total increase of $21.3 billion in the last 52 weeks ending July 12, 2015, reports IRI, a Chicago-based research firm.
As some snacks become healthier, or at least attempt to, others are becoming better-for-you, while others still are turning to fun and unusual flavors to lure customers.
The National Confectioners Association’s show, May 20-22 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, presented a whirlwind of new snacks and bakery items its Most Innovative New Product Awards, where such items were taste-tested by an elite panel of industry food experts and then voted on by attendees.
Marketers of beef jerky, a favorite of truckers and a staple at gas-station checkouts, want it to be a healthier snack. Makers of the spicy, salty dried treat find that consumers can accept turkey versions and are now stepping up sales with moister, tastier and fancier dried-meat products, some in flavors such as Basil Citrus and Lemon Garlic.