2023 Category Captain for Salty Snacks: General Mills

The General Mills category management team partners with distributors and retailers to build high-impact planograms along with adjacency recommendations that will drive basket rings. General Mills wants retailers to think differently about the salty snacks category, broadening it to incorporate a wider assortment of snacks and create destination sets in the store. This is accomplished by watching out for emerging subsegments that are driving growth and means not only a well-balanced assortment, but also an eye on emerging trends, unmet consumer needs and secondary placements to increase exposure.

Making sure retailers are capitalizing on all bundling opportunities is a critical component in driving the total basket ring, so General Mills leveraged VideoMining data to create a tool that identifies the top cross-purchase categories with the most weekly salty snack buyers. With this tool, General Mills can know which categories drive cross-purchases and get down to the brand level.

The supplier is also delivering product innovation in several ways. Recognizing the emerging growth of indulgent ready-to-eat popcorn, General Mills launched Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cocoa Puffs Popcorn. And to capitalize on the current growth of puffed snack items, the Category Captain will be introducing three new Old El Paso puffed items this year.