Meet the 2024 Category Captain for Alternative Snacks: Jack Link's

With consumers snacking more often than ever — with some snacking as much as three times a day — new trends have emerged in the last few years. One such trend is the search for bold flavor, particularly hot and spicy, which continues to be the fastest-growing flavor within the category, driven by Generation Z consumers. Another major trend is protein as 55% percent of Americans cite protein as the most important nutritional attribute of any snack.

Keeping consumers at the center of everything it does, Jack Link's focuses on providing products that deliver on consumers' interest in flavor as well as the value they place on protein. As a result, it's retained its spot as the No. 1 meat snack brand in c-stores.

Recently, the company helped lift the entire alternative snacks category by partnering with other suppliers to bring new consumers into the meat snacks segment. In 2023, Jack Link's worked with Frito-Lay, the No. 1 salty snacks brand, to create success for convenience channel retailers. Pairing iconic brands like Jack Link's and Frito-Lay helped c-store retailers achieve a 3% dollar volume increase and 2.3% unit growth, outpacing the entire category.

As a category captain, Jack Link's continuously investigates what factors drive purchases while utilizing basket interactions as an opportunity for retailers. Because many consumers are turning snacking occasions into mini meals, Jack Link's is finding opportunities to cross-promote to gain in-store conversion traffic and enhance the customer experience.

All information contained in this profile was supplied by the company.

For the full winners' list for the 2024 Convenience Store News Category Captains, click here.