Guide to Foodservice: Optimizing the Snack Dayparts
NATIONAL REPORT — The average consumer's eating schedule is no longer based on the traditional three-meals-per-day plan. Snacking itself is nothing new, but snacking as a substitute for meals or using snacks as part of meals is becoming increasingly common — and therefore, critical for convenience foodservice retailers to take into account.
One major driver behind this shift is the perception that time is at a premium. The fifth-annual "U.S. Snack Index," released earlier this year by PepsiCo Inc. divisions Frito-Lay North America and The Quaker Oats Co., found that 80% of Americans feel like their days have fewer hours, and 60% expected demands in their life to increase this year. Separate research from Circana revealed that 50% of consumers say they often eat snacks instead of a meal because they are on the go, up 6 points from 2019.
[Read more: A Retailer's Guide to Future-Proofing Foodservice]
To meet the needs of these consumers via c-store prepared food, retailers can start by thinking small. Standard menu items offered in smaller packaging are an easy pickup option for busy customers, particularly if the store has a signature product they are already familiar with.
Hunt Brothers Pizza Director of Marketing Dee Cleveland noted that it may be worthwhile for retailers to make popular snacking items available throughout the day, for a period of time, to see what their customer base gravitates toward.
"C-store owners might be surprised at how many [Hunt Brothers] WingBites sell in the mornings, whether it's from second-shift or overnight workers stopping in for their dinner, or construction crews on their way out to a site," she said.
Cleveland also advises retailers to think about variety and offer options for every daypart, even if their foodservice program is strongly focused on one type of food, such as pizza or chicken.
"By offering different options, you provide an opportunity to effectively quench your consumer's cravings at any time of the day," she reasoned.
Taking an open-minded approach to snack dayparts is likely to yield results because snacking is not a singular, easily categorized occasion like breakfast or dinner. Managing snacking is more about managing occasions, according to Sally Lyons Wyatt, Circana's global executive vice president and chief advisor, consumer goods and foodservice insights.
Customers are "walking in to solve an occasion," Wyatt explained during a session at the 2024 Sweets & Snacks Expo. "What am I going to snack on? What am I going to do for this party? What am I going to do for dinner? That's an occasion, it's not a category."
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