Snack Sales Score Big During Super Bowl Week
ARLINGTON, Va. — Consumers will not only be watching the football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 13. If history repeats, they will also be doing plenty of snacking leading up to the big game.
During the week of the Super Bowl in 2021, total snack food sales jumped 12.5 percent from the previous week to $487 million, according to new data from IRI, commissioned by SNAC International (SNAC), the trade association of the snacking industry. The biggest sales increases by category for Super Bowl Week last year, when the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, were tortilla chips, potato chips, pretzels, pork rinds and refrigerated dips.
"In America, football, snack foods and fun go together," said Elizabeth Avery, president and CEO of SNAC. "Regardless of where you're watching the big game this year, we know the bowl of snacks will be at the center of your Super Bowl huddle."
IRI compared shopping data from the 2021 Super Bowl week to the week prior. Specifically, refrigerated dip sales increased by 33.3 percent, tortilla chips sales rose by 26.5, potato chips by 12.2 percent, pretzels by 9.2 percent and pork rinds by 7.6 percent during Super Bowl week.
The data also revealed an interesting snacking fact during the COVID era. Food sales, including both volume and spending, rose when comparing 2020 to 2021, signaling that snack consumption grew regardless of whether or not the game took place with traditional parties or gatherings or in the midst of COVID precautions.
"The data signals a bright future for snacking growth," SNAC stated.
In total, Americans eat 112 million pounds of snacks on Super Bowl Sunday itself, or the equivalent of 270 jumbo jets.
This is the fourth year SNAC has monitored consumer spending on snacks for the Super Bowl, with total purchasing on snacks rising from $370 million to $487 million during that time.
"Despite supply chain concerns impacting manufacturers of all kinds, America's snack food companies are working overtime to ensure consumers have access to their favorite snack foods for the 2022 Super Bowl," Avery said.
Founded in 1937, SNAC International (formerly Snack Food Association) is an international trade association for the snack industry representing more than 400 companies worldwide, including suppliers, marketers and manufacturers.