Top 10 US salty snack brands in 2017 so far: Sales soar for Frito-Lay’s Ruffles brand

By Gill Hyslop

- Last updated on GMT

PepsiCo's Frito-Lays is the biggest contributor to the total US food and beverage retail of all the $5bn-plus manufacturers, reflected in the Top 10 US salty snack brands in 2017 so far. Pic: PepsiCo/©iStock/lepas2004
PepsiCo's Frito-Lays is the biggest contributor to the total US food and beverage retail of all the $5bn-plus manufacturers, reflected in the Top 10 US salty snack brands in 2017 so far. Pic: PepsiCo/©iStock/lepas2004
IRI data reveals the 10 biggest brands in eight key US salty snacks categories in the first half of 2017.

BakeryandSnacks reviews the performance of the US salty snacks market this year, breaking down IRI data to reveal the biggest selling brands in each of the key salty snacks subsectors.

Overall dollar sales of the US salty snacks market rose by 3.4% year-on-year to over $22,6bn, according to IRI data for the 52 weeks ending June 11, 2017.

Combined unit sales for each of the sub-sectors was up 1.89%, almost reaching 10 billion items, while the average price per unit was $2.30, rising 0.03% from a year ago.

Popcorn saw the biggest growth in the past year, ratcheting up a massive 9.68%, but only came in as number five in sales when compared with the other salty snack sub-sectors (excluding nuts).

The star performer in dollar sales was the potato chip segment with almost $7,36bn.

Top selling salty snacks

Source: IRI 52w/e June 11 2017. IRI is a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide)


Rank

Sub-category

Sales

Sales chg

1

Potato chips

$7.35bn

1.46%

2

Tortilla/Tostada chips

$5.06bn

2.36%

3

Other salted snacks (excluding nuts)

$4.05bn

4.63%

4

Cheese snacks

$2.14bn

8.25%

5

Ready-To-Eat (RTE) popcorn

$1.28bn

9.68%

6

Pretzels

$1.19bn

0.35%

7

Corn snacks

$1.15bn

3.4%

8

Pork rinds

$423m

6.12%

The growth of these two sub-categories was reflected in the performance and sales of Frito-Lay (the number one brand in both categories).

According to owner PepsiCo’s chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi during the company’s earnings call earlier this week, was the biggest contributor to the total US food and beverage retail​ of all the $5bn-plus manufacturers with sales of over $4.4bn.

Sales of the Lay’s-owned Smartfood brand rose by almost 25%, while Lay’s Potato Chips was the top selling brand in the US with sales of $2.18bn.

Top 10 brand performers: Potato chips

Source: IRI 52w/e June 11 2017. IRI is a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide)


Rank

Brand

Owner

Sales

Sales chg

Total company mkt share

1

Lays

Frito-Lay

$2.18bn

0.14%

59.85%

2

Ruffles

Frito-Lay

$870m

15.00%



3

Pringles

Kellogg

$713m

-0.51%

10.91%

4

Wavy Lay’s

Frito-Lay

$518m

6.70%



5

Private Label

Private Label

$516m

6.93%

7.02%

6

Lays Kettle Cooked

Frito-Lay

$356m

6.2%



7

Cape Cod

Snyder’s-Lance

$265m

8.98%



8

UTZ

UTZ Quality Foods

$228m

-0.04%

3.76%

9

Kettle

Snyder’s-Lance

$202m

6.08%



10

Herrs

Herr Foods

$101m

-4.99%


Top 10 brand performers: Tortilla/Tostada chips

Source: IRI 52w/e June 11 2017. IRI is a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide)


Rank

Brand

Owner

Sales

Sales chg

Total company mkt share

1

Doritos

Frito-Lay

$2.09bn

3.00%

72.70%

2

Tostitos

Frito-Lay

$635m

-1.65%



3

Tostitos Scoops

Frito-Lay

$470m

0.44%



4

Private Label

Private Label

$282m

7.92%

5.58%

5

Santitas

Frito-Lay

$264m

3.00%



6

Barcel Takis Fuego

Barcel USA

$260m

34.44%

5.71%

7

On The Border

Truco Enterprises

$183m

13.00%

3.66%

8

Mission

Mission Foods

$73m

-21.94%

1.60%

9

Dortitos Sabritas Dinamita

Frito-Lay

$70m

18.04%



10

Doritos Jacked

Frito-Lay

$38m

-30.14%


Top 10 brand performers: Other salted snacks (no nuts)

Source: IRI 52w/e June 11 2017. IRI is a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide)


Rank

Brand

Owner

Sales

Sales chg

Total company mkt share

1

All Frito-Lay products

Frito-Lay

$1.06bn

2.12

62.04%

2

Funyuns

Frito-Lay

$362m

3.03%



3

General Mills Chex Mix

General Mills

$278m

-9.57%

11.16%

4

Chesters

Frito-Lay

$264m

12.63%



5

Sunchips

Frito-Lay

$211m

-8.97%



6

Munchies

Frito-Lay

$157m

-4.89%



7

Cheetos Doritos

Frito-Lay

$153m

11.7%



8

Frito-Lay

Frito-Lay

$119m

128.02%



9

Gardettos

General Mills

$109m

3,41%



10

Private Label

Private Label

$96m

6.85%

2.37%

Top 10 brand performers: Cheese snacks

Source: IRI 52w/e June 11 2017. IRI is a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide)


Rank

Brand

Owner

Sales

Sales chg

Total company mkt share

1

Cheetos

Frito-Lay

$1.62bn

8.69%

86.97%

2

Chesters

Frito-Lay

$120m

11.47%



3

UTZ

UTZ Quality Foods

$55m

15.99%

2.91%

4

Private Label

Private Label

$54m

15.04%

2.54%

5

Cheetos Simply

Frito-Lay

$40m

39.08%



6

Baked Cheetos

Frito-Lay

$30m

2.56%



7

Cheetos Mix Ups

Frito-Lay

$25m

-24.39%



8

Herrs

Herr Foods

$22m

4.03%

1.11%

9

Wise Cheez Doodles

Wise Foods

$19m

-7.42%

0.99%

10

Cheetos Paws

Frito-Lay

$14m




Top 10 brand performers: RTE popcorn

Source: IRI 52w/e June 11 2017. IRI is a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide)

RankBrandOwnerSalesSales chgTotal company mkt share
1SmartfoodFrito-Lay$358m25.11%32.91%
2SkinnyPopAmplify Snacks$225m11.80%17.59%
3Angie's Boom ChickaAngie's Artisan Treats$77m28.49%6.41%
4Private LabelPrivate Label$68m21.42%5.38%
5Smartfood DelightFrito-Lay$62m23.51%
6Popcorn IndianaDale and Thomas$49m-6.25%
7Cracker JackFrito-Lay$38m-3.75%
8Crunch n MunchConAgra Foods$27m-4.80%
9ChestersFrito-Lay$26m-15.87%
10WiseWise Foods$20m0.67%

IRI data showed relatively flat sales (0.35%) in the pretzel category over the past 52 weeks at $1.2bn.

Snyder’s-Lance, which still dominates 38% of the sector, saw a small rise in sales (3.1%) to $454m, while Frito-Lay saw a 5% decline in sales to $167m.

Last year, while still in the position of CEO of Snyder’s-Lance, Carl E Lee Jnr said snacking was growing, but so too was the number of options. Lee left the company declining sales​ earlier this year.

Last month, the board permanently appointed interim CEO Brian Driscoll as they have been impressed by the significant progress he’s made​ since taking over.

Top 10 brand performers: Pretzels

Source: IRI 52w/e June 11 2017. IRI is a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide)


Rank

Brand

Owner

Sales

Sales chg

Total company mkt share

1

Snyder’s of Hanover

Snyder’s-Lance

$420m

4.42%

38.00%

2

Private Label

Private Label

$204m

-1.98%

17.11%

3

Rold Gold

Frito-Lay

$166m

-4.91%

13.99%

4

Combos

Mars

$123m

-3.81%

10.36%

5

UTZ

UTZ Quality Foods

$82m

10.25%

7.63%

6

Snyder’s of Hanover 100 calorie pack

Snyder’s-Lance

$21m

9.33%



7

Herrs

Herr Foods

$18m

-1.88%



8

Glutino

Boulder Brands

$14m

0.88%



9

Bachman

The Bachman Co

$13m

-7.45%



10

HK Anderson

ConAgra Foods

$12m

4.67%


Top 10 brand performers: Corn snacks (no tortilla chips)

Source: IRI 52w/e June 11 2017. IRI is a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide)


Rank

Brand

Owner

Sales

Sales chg

Total company mkt share

1

Fritos

Frito-Lay

$511m

5.89%

77.46%

2

Fritos Scoops

Frito-Lay

$225m

0.10%



3

General Mills Bugles

General Mills

$142m

4.62%

12.35%

4

Fritos Flavor Twists

Frito-Lay

$131m

2.28%



5

Sabritas

Frito-Lay

$22.1m

53.47%



6

PopCorners

Medora Snacks

$22m

-29.15%

2.37%

7

Private Label

Private Label

$19m

12.21%

1.66%

8

Toms Bugles

Snyder’s-Lance

$10m

-2.51%

1.46%

9

Barcel Churritos

Barcel USA

$9m

11.47%



10

Wise Cheez Doodles

Wise

$8m

-6.50%


Top 10 brand performers: Pork rinds

Source: IRI 52w/e June 11 2017. IRI is a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide)


Rank

Brand

Owner

Sales

Sales chg

Total company mkt share

1

Baken-Ets

Frito-Lay

$125m

-1.28%

29.58%

2

Macs Snacks

Macs Snacks

$54m

34.10%

12.93%

3

Golden Flake

Golden Flake Snack Foods

$43m

5.98%

10.31%

4

Toms

Snyder’s-Lance

$23m

12.00%

5.96%

5

Turkey Creek Snacks

Turkey Creek Pork Skins

$190m

6.54%

4.66%

6

Private Label

Private Label

$15m

12.59%



7

UTZ

UTZ Quality Foods

$14m

14.96%



8

Carolina Country Snacks

Carolina Country Snacks

$9m

17.62%



9

Lees

Lees Pig Skin Co.

$7m

9.45%



10

Wallaces

Wallaces Old Fashioned

$5m

1.38%


The above graphs demonstrate the dominance of Frito-Lay on the US salty snacks market, which Nooyi accredited to some important characteristics that make the company’s brands appealing to consumers.

She said Frito-Lay products are often purchased on impulse and are highly complementary to other food and beverage purchases.

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