Big bites: The evolution and future of snacking

Nearly 16,000 people arrived in Indianapolis last week for the 2024 Sweets & Snacks Expo where food giants such as Hershey, Ferrero, Conagra Brands and Mars Wrigley debuted many of their new or signature offerings.

Just steps away from these sprawling displays with large signage and individuals handing out samples were hundreds of smaller candy and snack innovators packed into tiny booths displaying their novel products to retailers, competitors and other attendees.

Some of the offerings are just a few months old. Others have been around for a few years. But the one thing manufacturers of these products have in common is they’re either looking for their big break or to further expand in a food space deluged with choices.

Here are five products that caught our attention:

Hooked on sustainable fish jerky

For Nick Mendoza, making fish jerky might seem like an unusual career path after growing up on a cattle ranch in New Mexico.

But for Mendoza, the sea has always been a part of his life, and founding Neptune Snacks in 2020 was a way the former marine scientist could directly improve ocean health and increase the availability of sustainable seafood.

“It was so clear to me that consumers are shifting toward other proteins and away from red meat while looking for ways to incorporate [fish] into their diets,” Mendoza said.

Neptune Snacks currently sells four jerky varieties from US wild-caught fish: Sea salt and Juniper, as well as Spicy Cajun from Pacific Rockfish; and Cracked Pepper and Sweet Citrus Ginger from Alaska Pollock. A fifth line is scheduled for later this year.

The jerky, available in more than 2,200 stores, hits on several trends popular with consumers. 

Neptune Snacks are high in protein and Omega-3 fatty acids and low in calories. The fish used to make the products can be traced back to the person and area where the Pacific Rockfish and Alaska Pollock were caught in the wild. The Seattle-based company also favors imperfect fish, including fillets that are too small to be served as a table portion in a restaurant.

With dozens of meat jerky brands on the market totaling nearly $1 billion in sales, Mendoza could have a huge market to tap into if he wanted to target these offerings. Instead, he’s focusing on meeting the appetites of people looking for more seafood.

“We don't need to, and we're not trying to convert jerky eaters to try something different,” he said. “There's enough people out there that want more fish in their diets and that's kind of our easiest access to marketing.”

Putting the pop back in popcorn

As a fan of popcorn, Dan Sobek realized he had enough.

Sobek grew frustrated that the category has been starved for innovation for years, with new offerings from big food brands like Conagra’s Angie’s Boomchickapop and Hershey’s SkinnyPop focusing predominately on some variation of cheese, sea salt or butter. 

A classically trained chef who owns restaurants in San Diego, Sobek used his insight into flavors to help revitalize the stagnant popcorn space.

Last December, he launched Nomad and debuted two popcorns with food-inspired flavors: one that tastes like ramen and a second dusted with chimichurri seasoning. Three more flavors are planned in 2024, including Chili Crunch, Pad Thai and Mexican Street Corn.

“We're trying to bring something new to the market,” Sobek said. “We're trying to break something loose in the category that's never been done before.”

Nomad is tapping into popcorn’s neutral flavor profile to load up its products with generous amounts of its signature seasonings — another way Sobek said the brand is separating itself from other products already on the market where the flavor is more subdued.

Nomad will eventually move into sweeter offerings, but first it wants to launch up to seven savory products. 

Even though the upstart company has only had its popcorn on the market for six months, Sobek said early tests at smaller independent grocers in California “have exceeded our expectations.” It only served to embolden his observation that consumers were looking for a flavor reboot to popcorn.

“There a big market for this, a lot of interest,” he added.

Bringing energy back to gum

With consumers frequently turning to coffee and other drinks for an energy jolt, Maax Brands has something else for consumers to chew on: gum.

The idea for the performance-enhancing Maax gum came after founder and serial entrepreneur Mariano Cuesta was driving home one evening and wanted a pick-me-up. Carrying around a cup of coffee wasn’t the most convenient, especially for going out on the town. It also didn’t provide the freshest breath.

Maax started selling its gum in late 2021 and this year added mints to the fold. 

Each piece of gum has the same amount of caffeine as one and a quarter cups of coffee. The high caffeine sets it apart from similar energy gums on the market where it often takes multiple pieces to reach the same level, said Maria Cuesta, the head of marketing at Maax and Mariano’s younger sister. 

Maax also includes 1 gram of sugar that helps offset the notoriously bitter taste of caffeine.

“Part of the challenge is making sure that [the gum] provides that punch but also in a way that is going to be tasty to anyone who is chewing it because no one wants to chew bitter gum and be left with that bitter breath as well,” Maria Cuesta said. 

Maax gum is currently available in Spearmint, Cinnamon, Cool Mint and Tropical Mango, while the mints offer Spearmint and Peppermint. The gum can be found in roughly 100 mom-and-pop stores and online at Amazon and Walmart. 

Most retail locations, Maria Cuesta said, carry it in next to other gums but a few are stocking it in the health section next to protein and other energy bars.

Maax plans to eventually expand into other products to help students, employees or people exercising get the much-needed energy jolt.

“It's a young company,” she said. “This is just the beginning.”

Sour power

Brain Smack is not afraid to talk smack.

Brain Smack, which launched six months ago to capitalize on the public’s insatiable demand for everything sour, teases consumers that “it’s not that sour” and urges them to “smack with caution.” 

The product “stands out in the candy aisle, tempting both adventurous eaters and sour candy aficionados alike,” said Reena Rupani, the chief financial officer for 4 Aces Import, the Texas-based company that developed and distributes the product. “It pushes the boundaries of flavor of innovation and has you wanting to go back for more.”

While Brain Smack is not the first sour candy on the market, Rupani said it comes with one sweet difference. 

For many other sour candy brands, once the sour dissipates after a few seconds, consumers are left with a sweet or decidedly unpleasant bitter aftertaste. 4 Aces conducted eight rounds of testing before settling on Brain Smack’s current flavor profile that leaves a sweeter sour flavor once the initial punch subsides.

“We’ve never seen anyone focus on the sour and actually do it well,” Rupani said.

Brain Smack currently has five sour products: Mega Brain Smother and Brain Spasm, both sour candy sprays; Brain Stun and Brain Sucker, both a brain-shaped lollipop that is dipped in a sour liquid candy; and Brain Spike, a lollipop that gets dipped in a sour candy powder. The candies come in watermelon, strawberry and blue raspberry flavors.

4 Aces is already talking about adding more products to its Brain Smack lineup.

“Everyone's kind of been going for sour,” Rupani noted. “It’s just figuring out how to do it right and making sure that we have a branding that backs it up.”

Making pickles pop

Jorge Ramos has long been a fan of pickles, beginning with cotton candy he developed in 2015 that was flavored with the popular item.

Now, the entrepreneur is tapping into the growing popularity of pickles in the U.S. and combining it with chamoy, a Mexican condiment made from dried chiles, lime juice and fruit like apricots.  

In March, his company, Kids Kan Sa De Cv, debuted a sauce, paste and chili seasoning that includes pickles or pickle flavoring and chamoy. The ingredients together create “a blast of flavors in your mouth,” Ramos said, ranging from sour and sweet to spicy and salty.

The Pickle with Chamoy sauce is ideal for chips or as a substitute for ketchup or BBQ sauce on a hamburger, the seasoning as a sprinkling on beer and the paste as a candy that a person can consume with a small spoon or their finger.

“There's no turning back once you try it,” Ramos said. “It just hooks you because it's like addictive.”

Ramos first developed the formulation for these pickle products eight years ago. Despite their short time on the market, the products are already carried by grocery H-E-B in Texas and on Amazon. Candy chain It’s Sugar recently agreed to purchase them. 

With nearly 90% of consumers around the globe concerned about inflation, according to Mondelēz, many shoppers have changed what products they purchase, how often and where. While no food category appears to be immune, there is at least some evidence that snacking may be somewhat buffered.

Mondelēz, with an enviable portfolio of brands which includes Oreo, Ritz and Triscuit, has doubled down on snacking with recent deals, such as its roughly $3 billion acquisition last year of Clif Bar. Snacking is a daily staple as 71% of people around the world snack at least twice a day, the company found, with consumers doing it more during breakfast, lunch and dinner last year compared to 2020.

It stands to reason that with shoppers valuing snacking more in place of a meal, they may be more willing to continue to pay more for it despite the higher cost. Mondelēz announced its most recent round of price hikes in the U.S. and other parts of the world in December. 

An increase in the price of a cookie, bar, cracker or another snack offering may be easier for a consumer’s pocketbook to digest than a similar percentage being applied to something that costs more to begin with, such as meat, dairy or cereal.

Finally, Mondelēz noted that nearly 80% of consumers surveyed said “these days, it’s more important than ever to have moments of indulgence in the day.” With many consumers facing hardships, the need for a satisfying treat could further benefit snack makers such as Mondelēz, Hershey and Campbell Soup.

“Our State of Snacking report confirms that in these trying times, consumers around the world view their favorite snacks as affordable and necessary indulgences,” Dirk Van de Put, Mondelēz’s CEO, said in a statement. “Snacking continues to be a way for consumers to connect or to enjoy a moment of delight in their day, further demonstrating our belief that every snack can be enjoyed in a mindful way.”

Mondelēz’s State of Snacking report found that supply chain challenges have affected many consumers. More than half (51%) of people around the world have experienced a shortage or delay in receiving snacks in the last year, including 57% in the U.S.

The disruption has forced consumers, especially Gen Z and millennials, to be more open to trying new snacks. The flexibility could be a boon for manufacturers who can keep most, if not all, of their most popular brands on shelves as a way to draw, and hopefully retain, shoppers in the long term.

Consumers also reported having more faith in large brands to carry them through this time, Mondelēz noted, with 76% saying, “bigger brands are better equipped to deliver during challenging times.”

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By Edlong

 

In recent years, we've all been introduced to the term "snackification," a growing tendency for consumers to opt for convenient snacks over sit-down meals.

However, snacking taking the place of formal meals is proving to be less of a trend and more of a "new normal" for many consumers.

But why?  

The simple answer is that people are busier and more on the go than ever.

60% of Americans believe there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done.

With time at a premium, shopping for, prepping, and cooking a full sit-down meal isn't an option every day, let alone three times a day.

This could explain why 6 in 10 would rather have smaller meals or snacks during the day than a few large ones.

Yet, while snacking satisfies this need for a convenient meal anytime, anywhere, that alone isn't enough for those looking to dine while they dash.

For starters, snacks need to do what they’ve always been known for, taste great.

Satisfying someone's craving and offering an enjoyable taste experience always matters, but even more so when they are missing a meal.

However, for developers, delicious and convenient snacking isn’t a trend to address in isolation and can bring with it some serious taste challenges to overcome.

Hit two trends with one snack

As concerned as shoppers are with convenience, they are becoming equally, if not more, focused on their health and well-being.

Increasingly, they are expecting snacks like bars and bites to provide just that. 

Data from Innova Market Insights found that around 60% of consumers always look for healthier snack options, with half picking healthier alternatives instead of indulgent ones.

Looking beyond better-for-you, people desire snacks that can do more to also support their desired lifestyle and general sense of well-being.

An astonishing 74% of consumers say they would like to have snacks tailored to their specific personal health and nutritional needs.

This move to “personalized foods” and "food as medicine" are some of the major drivers behind the functional foods trend going mainstream.

According to Innova, in 2023, 13.06% of global snacks launched claimed functional benefits ^[lo1] , and as they continue to broaden their appeal to a wider range of demographics, the global functional food market is expected to grow by +5.7% CAGR to US $368.9B by 2032.

An offering for every generation (and every"body")

A great deal of the attention around snacking and functional products is focused on younger millennials and Gen Z, and for good reason.

According to data from 84.51°, 74% of those 18-34 stated that they snack multiple times daily. While this is by far the most of any group, the 52% for 35-54 year olds and 50% for seniors (55-74 years old) is incredibly impressive.

When it comes to willingness to try new snacks, the gap shrinks even more, with 60% (18-34), 57% (35-54), and 44% (55-74).

It’s no wonder 74% of consumers say the novelty of flavor and texture combinations are important when choosing a snack.

Still, age groups aren't the only criteria to consider.  With functional benefits like mood-boosting, increased energy, improved sleep, reduced stress, and more, there is a product waiting to appeal to nearly every demographic.

From busy professionals returning to the office to stay-at-home (or work-from-home) moms trying to juggle it all, teens going off to college, and grandparents trying to keep up with their grandkids, there are tangible health benefits functional snacks can offer to make their lives, schedules, and health more manageable.

The ability to identify a target market and differentiate a product's positioning may make as much of an impact on success as the claimed benefits themselves.

Yet, with that said, taste still remains the number one driver of purchase decisions for 87% of people.

If these products are to become staples for their consumers, they must also do what healthy snacks aren’t always known for, taste great.

Hurdles on the road to success

While functional foods and beverages can holistically address a consumer's need for convenient and nutritious indulgence, there are definite hurdles that can hinder success.

Whether it's adaptogens and nootropics, increased protein, or any other number of vitamins, minerals, and botanicals, formulating with functional ingredients often introduces taste and texture challenges. Luckily, some profiles, like those from dairy and dairy-type flavors, are inherently adept at overcoming these challenges when the right experts are on your team.

For brands to capitalize on this growing trend, innovation in the space will require collaboration with agile and experienced suppliers.

Meati’s jerky launch is the latest in a string of plant-based snack options that have arrived on the market as many consumers shift their tastes toward wholesome and natural foods.

The category is projected to grow from $49.5 billion in 2023 to $77.9 billion by 2030, showing a compound annual growth rate of 7.85% during the forecast period, according to a 2023 plant-based snack market report by Market Research Future.

The launch follows a period of change for Meati. In September, the company initiated a round of layoffs in order to focus on profitability. 

Now, the new product offering is being sold on their website, which was also a business decision made in September to improve profitability and respond to the demands of their consumers. 

“The reason we’re launching this product is to offer a delicious, functional snack,” said Ra. 

“We look less at jerky players and the snacking category as a whole — many people are eating meals less and relying on nutrient-dense sustenance, and our jerky delivers terrific protein, fiber and micronutrients very conveniently on the go.”

The jerky is made from the company’s patented mushroom root, and is available in the flavors of original, peppered and sweet chili. In addition to the launch of the jerky snacks, there is more product innovation on the way.

“With snacking becoming more important in people’s lives, we’ll certainly be considering what is possible when and what makes sense for the business,” said Ra.

There are many other smaller players in the plant-based industry already in the space — Krave and Conagra to name a few —  but as Ra said, Meati does not consider themselves to be “plant-based,” as the category has become associated with complicated ingredients. 

“We’re seeing a lot of great, new players in the space lately. But Meati is what it is because of our MushroomRoot,” said Ra.

Beyond Meat is considered a giant in the sector and launched its plant-based jerky in early 2022 as the first product from its joint-venture with PepsiCo, Planet Partnership. 

This was Beyond Meat’s first shelf-stable product launch, and an effort to boost its sluggish sales at the time. As the company continues to see declining sales, however, it may have been a shot in the dark and a testament to how consumers feel about all things considered “plant-based.” 

Another category leader, Impossible Foods, is taking a different approach. It doesn’t have plans to enter the snacks space just yet.

Pat McGuinness, CEO of Impossible Foods said in an interview with Food Dive that the private company was focusing on growth so as to steal a bigger piece of the meat segment. A company spokesperson confirmed that this remained its strategy. 

While inconsistent product quality between different brands has led to declining sales in the plant-based overall, and skepticism around taste and texture of plant-based alternatives remain a barrier to trial, Impossible is keeping a lean eye on improving the products they already have, and making them just as good as animal-based meat.

PepsiCo has a “huge runway” to grow its multi-billion dollar snacking empire, despite owning a portfolio that includes decades-old favorites such as Doritos, Fritos and Cheetos among its best-selling offerings, a top executive said.

Parth Raval, chief growth officer for PepsiCo Foods North America, said the Texas-based division continues to “experiment and think about different” ingredients, packaging formats, flavors and unique combinations — such as the merging of salty and sweet — to strengthen its already dominant presence in the snacking category.

“We think about what sits outside of our core and that’s where we have a ton of excitement about the business” and our ability to capture a larger share of the snacking market, Raval said.

PepsiCo’s snacking business is composed mostly of Frito-Lay and Quaker Oats, which together generated nearly $22 billion in sales in North America during the company’s 2021 fiscal year — accounting for a little over a quarter of the CPG’s $79 billion in global sales.

Overall, the U.S. snacking market is valued at $115 billion, according to PepsiCo, giving the company roughly 20% ownership of the segment.

Brittany Quatrochi, an analyst at Edward Jones, called PepsiCo’s snack portfolio “a competitive advantage” and praised the work the company has done to keep its classic brands relevant through innovation. She pointed to new flavors, brand extensions such as dips, and the debut of different packaging sizes to better respond to the evolving needs of today’s consumer.

The CPG giant has also done an effective job of taking a global brand and localizing it to make it relevant in many different markets, Quatrochi said in an email, while simultaneously investing in smaller, emerging brands, which cater to faster-growing trends like healthier snacks. 

“The snack portfolio and the investments PepsiCo has made to drive growth within snacks is a key driver in the company being a top-tier growth story within consumer staples,” Quatrochi noted.

Tapping growth from indulgent to healthy

A key part of PepsiCo Foods’ strategy to boost the reach of its snacking offerings came in response to the pandemic. The company created its growth office in late 2020.

The operation, which Raval oversees, was put in place to increase the efficiency of product development by bringing together different divisions throughout the company — from marketing and supply chain to formation and sales.

A “must-have” in today’s environment, the growth office “allows us to be agnostic of any personal agenda” within a particular division at PepsiCo Foods, while helping the company overcome inevitable challenges that unfold in product development to create an offering that resonates with the consumer, Raval said.

“We’re seeing growth from our core of more indulgent products all the way to our much more health-forward products,” he said. “We’re very fortunate that we cover almost every daypart, from breakfast all the way through post-dinner, late-night snacking, across the broader PepsiCo portfolio.”

While PepsiCo Foods is best known for its chips, it also has a deep portfolio of other snacks such as Grandma's cookies, Funyuns, PopCorners, Bare baked fruit and coconut snacks, Cracker Jack and Off the Eaten Path vegetable crisps. These give the company more options to meet an individual’s needs or preferences throughout the day. PepsiCo also deepened its presence in plant-based snacks through a joint venture with Beyond Meat. Jerky, the first product created from the partnership, hit store shelves in 2022.

Owning the day in snack choice

PepsiCo Foods has observed that not only are more consumers turning to snacking in place of meals, but when they choose to eat different options is changing, too. For example, Doritos chips are no longer only eaten around lunch, and Quaker granola bars are not seen as just for breakfast, Raval said. It’s caused the company to be more thoughtful in how it goes about commercializing its brands.

“In the past, we’ve had each of the individual businesses working in, if you will, silos, sort of saying, ‘Hey, listen, I own the afternoon daypart,’ ” Raval said. “Now what we’re trying to do is reorient our portfolio strategy across consumer needs and time of the day.”

Frito-Lay debuted Minis, bite-sized and portable versions of its classic Doritos, Cheetos and Sun Chips, last November. These increased the portability and snackability of the chips by packaging them in canisters. And a few months earlier, it rolled out a line called Tostitos Toppers. These bottles of sauces and dressings for meals brought the snack brand deeper into another eating occasion. 

PepsiCo Foods has also observed more shoppers looking for multi-packs including several different snacking choices — like breakfast, salty, healthy and dessert. This trend gained momentum during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has accelerated since. 

The company has responded by introducing items such as its Frito-Lay Family Time Mix, which includes Doritos, Munchies Crackers, Chewy Granola Bars and Cap'n Crunch's Oops! All Mega Berries cereal snack pouches.

The company also has doubled down on where shoppers can buy its products.

In 2020, PepsiCo Foods launched two direct-to-consumer websites from which shoppers can order an assortment of products. One of them, Snacks.com, enables consumers to buy more than 100 of their favorite Frito-Lay products, including Lay’s, Tostitos, Cheetos and Ruffles, as well as dips, crackers and nuts. ​

Snacks.com not only provides Frito-Lay and Quaker with another way to reach the consumer, but created an outlet to sell harder-to-find brands or flavor extensions not carried on store shelves.

The platform also offers a valuable way for Frito-Lay and Quaker to observe consumer shopping behavior, such as how people assemble a basket of different snacks, or what they are looking for in a specific product. Executives overseeing the brands have observed from Snacks.com and retailer data that shoppers regularly gravitate toward products that are regionally focused or harder to find on store shelves.

“The way that demand gets generated is looking very different than it did even three years ago, and we expect that to accelerate going forward,” Raval said. Consumers “don’t just walk the aisles.”

While it’s not surprising that people taking weight-lost drugs buy less food, the Numerator data provides a glimpse of what could happen to CPG manufacturers if more people end up using the medications.

The overall buy rates at grocery stores during the last three months versus a year ago for those not using the medication dropped 3.9%. For those taking the drugs for weight loss of fewer than 15 pounds, the drop in buy rates was 11%, the Numerator data showed. 

Similarly, in ice cream, buy rates rose 3.9% for those not taking the drugs versus rates being down 9% for those using it to lose fewer than 15 pounds. In snacks, the figures were a drop of 2.1% compared to a decline of 8.8%. 

"We are in early stages," Dr. Leo Feler, Numerator's chief economist, said in a statement.

He said a year ago, nearly all the use of these drugs was for diabetes management, with only 10% of consumers using the medications for weight loss. Now, he said nearly half of people are using them for weight loss. 

Feler noted that an additional 20% of households said they are interested in taking the medicines to lose weight but are waiting for prices to come down and for more data to be released on the safety and efficacy of the drugs.

To be sure, this data, and the possibility of other, more effective weight-loss medicines, will go a long way toward providing clarity on how severe the impact will be on food and beverage companies. It’s also uncertain how long people who use the weight-loss drugs will keep taking them.

For now, CPG companies are keeping a close watch and wisely plotting how to change their portfolios once more is known about the drugs’ impact.

It’s not the first time a shift in consumer trends has sparked companies to change their products.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have introduced smaller cans in response to consumers cutting back on sugar; snack companies have increased the availability of 100-calorie count snacks for those aiming to consume less; and food makers across the board have reduced how much salt they include in popular offerings to appease Americans cutting back on sodium.

PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta told analysts in August that the impact on his business has been “negligible” so far and that there are “obviously a lot of question marks.” Dirk Van de Put, Mondelēz International’s CEO, said “the whole topic has been overblown,” and that “it’s really not a big concern for us at this stage.” He predicted minimal impact on its volumes of about 0.5% to 1% in a decade. 

Sean Connolly, who oversees Conagra Brands, told investors that the Banquet and Slim Jim maker is pouring over data to assess food consumption patterns and determine which ones need to be incorporated into its product development. He said if consumers look to smaller portions to help them lose weight then the Chicago company could decide to change some of its portion sizes.

For a tiny 62-year-old cracker synonymous with kids, Campbell Soup is thinking big as it looks to grow its $1 billion Goldfish snack. 

Goldfish “is top of mind like it hasn’t been for” much of the last three decades at Campell’s, Mike Fanelli, who oversees the brand for the packaged food company, said in an interview. “We’re trying to drive relevance, trying to drive the things that resonate when the consumer has a ton of snacking options.”

Campbell's executives admitted that until four years ago, the company wasn't doing enough to innovate and market Goldfish to older consumers who grew up with the product. Today, these consumers are responsible for half of the product's consumption. 

With the Goldfish brand recognized by most consumers, the packaged food manufacturer already had a strong base to tap into; all it needed was to launch products geared toward more adult shoppers. To do that, the meals and snacking giant turned to different textures, bolder flavors and limited-time offerings.

“We need to ensure that we’re continuing to open up the aperture,” Fanelli said. “We are really a fish-shaped snack that can play across different occasions.”

In 2022, it launched Mega Bites, Goldfish crackers 50% larger than the original and available in flavors such as Sharp Cheddar and Jalapeno Cheddar. It later turned to limited-time Goldfish with the launch of Dunkin' Pumpkin Spice Grahams and Frank’s RedHot crackers, the latter of which became a permanent fixture on store shelves in January.

Other items have been aimed at extending its long-term strategy and tapping into the interests of millennials and Gen Z. 

Goldfish introduced a limited-edition Hello Kitty Strawberry Shortcake extension based on the fictional character that heavily resonates with millennials. It also partnered with family favorite Elf to make Maple Syrup Flavored Graham Crackers.

And arguably its biggest innovation came last December when Campbell’s debuted potato chip-inspired crisps under the Goldfish banner. The puffy snack is the first Goldfish in the snack’s history made with potato.

“Those kids grew up and what we discovered was that they were carrying that snack with them so we recognize there was an opportunity to really level up the target demographic age-wise, for both the innovation and the communication and the advertising,” said Craig Slavtcheff, chief research and development and innovation officer at Campbell’s.

Goldfish traces its roots to Pepperidge Farm founder Margaret Rudkin who launched Goldfish crackers in the U.S. in 1962 after discovering a similar snack while on vacation in Switzerland. It wasn’t until four years after the crackers debuted that the iconic cheddar cheese flavor was introduced.

Slavtcheff noted that a catalyst for spurring growth in its snacking brands came after Campbell’s purchased Cape Cod potato chips and Pop Secret popcorn maker Snyder’s-Lance for nearly $5 billion in 2018. It was the largest deal in the soup company’s nearly 150-year history.

With a larger snacking portfolio, Slavtcheff said Campbell’s realized there was more it could do regarding innovation, with Goldfish among the first snacking brands to get a closer look.

Unlike products sold by many of its competitors that are “firmly rooted in one key attribute,” Fanelli noted that Goldfish can play in both sweet and savory — a factor that makes it more versatile and increases the opportunities available to Campbell’s to expand the brand. It’s also baked, not fried, giving it relevance among consumers who want to eat healthier.

Goldfish continues to prioritize limited-time offerings, new consumption occasions and demographics, and alternative packaging formats to draw attention and usage occasions to the snack, Slavtcheff said. 

So far, the extra attention and innovations have paid off. 

Goldfish is the fastest-growing cracker brand in the category, with dollar sales up 33% during the past three years, Campbell’s said, citing Circana data. Consumers who purchase limited-time offerings buy more Goldfish overall and per trip, make more trips to the store, helping them grow Goldfish and the cracker category overall. 

“We kind of put the pedal to the metal on bringing some innovation to Goldfish,” Slavtcheff said. “We don’t really intend on slowing down.”