The Super Bowl is the snack food industry’s, well, Super Bowl. During last year’s Super Bowl week, consumers spent $670 million on snack food, totalling 107 million (!) Pounds of snacks, according to Circana data, and they’re not expected to fumble the snack game for the Eagles vs. Chiefs showdown this Sunday, either.
Per NielsenIQ, 90% of fans will be watching from their home or at a home gathering—with 83% planning to make at least some gameday grub, so many fans will be heading to the grocery store. Consumers’ average spend on food and bevs for the big game is anticipated to be $44, up 3% from last year, according to Circana.
- Last year, soft drinks and tortilla chips were the top sellers, but refrigerated dips picked up steam with 9% volume growth, per Circana.
Price is the top factor for Super Bowl purchasing decisions (55.9% of consumers), followed closely by quality and taste (53.9%), NielsenIQ reported. It also found that 87% of consumers are planning to buy private-label products for their viewing parties—including consumers with income over $100,000. While healthiness was only a main factor for 21.6% of consumers, 59.3% will look to include healthier options in their gameday fare.
Younger consumers are looking forward to eating and drinking during the Super Bowl even more than watching it, per Numerator. For Gen Z consumers in particular, brand reputation, sustainability, and packaging are major factors in their snack purchase decisions, Nielsen IQ said.
Cheers leaders: Annually, NFL viewers spend $116 more on beer and $68 more on snacks than the average shopper, per Numerator. For the Super Bowl, soda leads the charge as the most popular bev, with 48% of consumers planning to buy it, followed by beer (40%), and spirits (23%). Chiefs fans opt for Michelob Ultra as their top beer, followed by Coors, while Eagles fans prefer Miller, with Corona in second place. Local brewers are big for both—Chiefs fans like Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing, while Eagles fans imbibe on Delaware’s Dogfish Head.
+1: While 5% of US shoppers are Chiefs fans and only 1% are Eagles fans, 39% of viewers are pulling for the Chiefs and 46% of viewers are rooting for the Eagles (including 12% that are doing so because they don’t like the Chiefs), Numerator said. We know we’re supposed to be unbiased here, but we have to say—go birds!
This report was originally published by Retail Brew.
