Snacks On The Upswing

Potato chips face increasing competition from alternative, other salty snacks

Convenience store customers are showing an increased preference for salty snacks, as evidenced by a 10.8-percent industrywide upswing in this category in 2012 compared to the previous year. Average sales per store also rose by 10 percent to $33,442.

Potato chips, the largest segment, grew 6.6 percent in sales per store last year to $9,162, making up 27.4 percent of sales in the overall salty snacks category.