Snacks share a history in our bars and pubs. A complimentary bowl of chips or nuts for example, has become a measure of good hospitality in many venues.
From the perspective of publicans and liquor retailers, snacks have also always provided an opportunity to increase margins by upselling and increasing basket size.
Find out about a growing number of snack food brands targeted specifically at the on and off-premise and offering new and premium options that are capturing consumers and providing additional revenue for the licensed trade.
Snack Brands Australia is the second largest supplier of snack foods and its main brand Kettle was first launched through the on-premise. Its long-term success recently prompted the company to refocus on the licensed channel and already this year it has released new Kettle Popcorn and Kettle Sweet Potato chips and launched a new partnership with New World Foods to distribute its 25g range of Local Legends Beef Jerky.
Michael Bird, National Business Manager – Impulse, at Snack Brands Australia said, “We have been focusing on the licensed channel over the last two years and we’re experiencing phenomenal growth.
“Snack foods present a great opportunity for retailers to get some extra margin from their customers.”
Kettle Popcorn joins the fastest growing segment of salted snacks and is 100 per cent natural with no artificial colours or flavours. It is available in Honey & Butter (110g), Salted Caramel (110g), and Sea Salt (80g), all $3.19 RRP.
Kettle Sweet Potato chips are also 100 per cent natural, slowly cooked in sunflower oil and seasoned with all-natural flavours, including Sea Salt and Rosemary & Sea Salt (135g), both $4.39 RRP.
“Kettle is our main brand and was born into the on-premise, so it resonates really well in the licensed channel,” Bird said.
Kettle also has around 30-40 per cent share of the market. That, combined with a premium offering according to Bird, means that retailers often feel there is little risk associated with switching to Kettle from another snack food brand.
“It is also a small premium from a cost perspective,” Bird added.
Kettle nuts are also big sellers in bars and bottle shops, and Snack Brands expects the Local Legends Beef Jerky brand to grow under the new partnership.
The healthy snack alternative is backed by “local legends”, the Triple 8 Racing team, and is low in fat, low in carbohydrates, and high in protein. Local Legends Beef Jerky is available in three flavours: Original, Nice ‘N’ Spicy and Korean BBQ Bulgogi.
The partnership between Snack Brands and New World Foods has already enabled the companies to increase supply of the brand. The range is now available from all leading snack, confectionary and liquor wholesalers. Retailers can also contact Snack Brands regarding stock.
New World Foods Managing Director, Don Nisbet, said “Our products are the latest in ready-to-eat snack foods and it’s our mission to share them far and wide. We wholeheartedly believe in the quality of our products and want as many people as possible in our increasingly health conscious world to have access to them.”
Talking about the placement of snack foods in the licensing channel, Bird said, “Snack purchases are very much impulse buys and even more so in licensed. No one is going into a pub or bottleshop to buy crisps, they’re mainly there for social reasons and snacks are an extra. That’s why product placement and POS are important.”
Snack Brands can provide behind the counter units that can hold up to 20 packets; clip strip hangers that don’t need bench space; and product glorifiers that can hold three different bags.
Red Rock Deli
The crispy potato chip brand Red Rock Deli is well known by Australians and familiar in the licensed trade. It has a range of flavour combinations, which are well suited to be shared alongside any beverage at a bar or at home.
Available from PepsiCo Australia & New Zealand, Red Rock Deli is made from locally grown potatoes, which are rough cut and slow-cooked in 100 per cent sunflower oil. They are then seasoned with deli-inspired ingredients to create popular flavours such as Sea Salt, Honey Soy Chicken and Sweet Chilli & Sour Cream.
Sweet potato chips are also available from Red Rock Deli, in four flavours: Roast Garlic, Rosemary & Thyme, Sea Salt and the new Spanish Paprika flavour.
According to Red Rock Deli, food curious consumers are always searching for new taste experiences and earlier this year the brand revealed a Special Reserve range which includes flavour combinations such as Wagyu Beef and Wasabi Cream, Champagne Vinaigrette and Shallot, and Truffle.
“Made up of three inspired combinations, these exciting new flavour journeys answer the beck and call of Aussies who like to think of themselves as flavour connoisseurs,” Red Rock Deli Brand Manager, Lauren Mather said.
On advice for how to drive sales with snack foods, PepsiCo said pubs and bottleshops need to ensure that they are displayed clearly on and behind counters and bars.
Mather explained, “When it comes to driving snacking sales, visibility is key for this channel, with 75 per cent of snacks purchased on impulse across both the on and off-premise.”
Tiger Buck beef jerky
The industry can now also welcome an all-new brand of beef jerky made specifically for bars and named Tiger Buck. Having worked in the liquor industry for over eight years, creator Benjamin Cairns, who is currently part of the Melbourne-based East 9th Brewing Co. venture, decided there was a serious gap in the market for premium pre-packaged, bar snack options and that he would create one himself.
Inspired by the saloon bar games of the American frontier, the brand has mimicked its design off a pack of playing cards so that consumers can hold the snack in one hand and their beverage in the other. The snack can also sit on a bar or table without taking up a lot of space.
“Venues and retailers focus endlessly on constructing wine-lists, beer-lists, and back-bars, with snack options almost always forgotten,” Tiger Buck says. “A premium bar snack can be an important addition to a customer offering, often leading to an increased spend-per-head on drinks.”
Tiger Buck is best enjoyed with flavoursome beers and neat dark spirits, and is a medium-soft, approachable jerky with a smokey bbq flavour. Tiger Buck is free from artificial colours and flavours, and is made from 100 per cent raw, unprocessed Australian beef.
It joins the growing number of better-for-you snacks that are becoming increasingly popular with consumers.
Bars already stocking Tiger Buck Beef Jerky include The Beaufort, Stomping Ground, The Local Taphouse, Boilermaker House and Less Than Zero in Melbourne.
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