Crisps and snacks present a wealth of opportunity for convenience. The growth of eating on-the-go, the drive towards healthier products and the trends towards staying in, means there has never been more choice in the market.

Retail Express spoke to Matt Collins, trading controller convenience for KP Snacks, on the ways that you can make the most of the trends within the category.

1. Create cross-category links. Collins says retailers need to have their store arranged by category but there is also an opportunity to cross promote. “We’ve looked at sharing with categories like wine and beer and found it is effective at encouraging eating at home,” he adds.
2. Multipacks have a place in convenience too. Collins’ advice is to use it tactically. “It’s a value offering. There’s only so much room in a convenience store so you don’t want to have shelves full of multipack boxes but I think through disciplined promotions there’s an opportunity for multipacks to drive additional growth.”
3. Tap into the growth of premium. There’s definitely room for premium in convenience, says Collins. “You see the likes of Tyrells and Kettle moving in to convenience and we’ve now launched our own O’Donnells range. O’Donnells is a hand cooked crisp from Tipperary in Ireland,” he adds.
4. Health is becoming more significant. Healthier snacks is now the fastest growing bagged snacks segment at 9.1%. “We’ve done a lot to boost our health credentials. Our range doesn’t carry any MSG and our new O’Donnells range is gluten and vegan friendly,” he says.