The bakery snacks category totaled $2,543 million in sales during the 52 weeks ended July 9.
Still sweet on snack cakes
Consumers continue to crave sweets.
In the 52 weeks ended July 9, dollar sales in the pastry/donuts category totaled $3,447 million, up 4.4% from the same period a year ago, according to I.R.I. The pastry/Danish/coffee cakes sub-category delivered $1,296 million in sales during the period, up 4.5% from a year ago. The biggest boost came from private label products, which experienced a 14.9% uptick in sales growth during the period. But branded products also performed well, with Grupo Bimbo up 4.8% and Flowers Foods up 8.6% during the year.
Meanwhile, the donuts sub-category increased 1.2% to $1,338 million led by an increase of 4.6% for Hostess Brands, Inc., and the muffins sub-category increased 10.2% to $813 million, led by a 12.8% gain at Aryzta AG and a 12.1% increase at Grupo Bimbo, according to I.R.I.
“We’re seeing that when it comes to snacking, consumers are looking to buy foods containing better-for-you ingredients, no matter where they are, which is why we are introducing our individually wrapped ‘No Funky Stuff’ Grab-N-Go foods,” explained Charice Grace, brand manager, Otis Spunkmeyer.
The bakery snacks category totaled $2,543 million in sales during the 52 weeks ended July 9, according to I.R.I., up 3.1% from the same period a year ago. Within the category, dollar sales at McKee Foods rose 3.5%, private label sales increased 3.7%, and sales at Hostess Brands gained 10.4%.
Otis Spunkmeyer recently introduced a new line of Grab-N-Go products designed around convenience.
New products from Hostess in 2017 have included cinnamon sugar crunch Donettes, white fudge Ding Dongs, chocolate peanut butter Twinkies, chocolate cake Twinkies, Golden CupCakes and peanut butter Ho Hos.
“In ‘17, it’s important in (consumer packaged goods) to innovate,” William D. Toler, president and chief executive officer of Hostess, said during a Sept. 6 presentation at the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference in Boston. “It’s equally important to renovate as you make sure each of your products on the shelf represents the best offering you can make to consumers. The Chocodile, we’ve replaced and upgraded the quality of that product, both with the coating and the size of the cake underneath. We’ve moved our pies to a one-out single-serve 100-calorie offering. We’re working the brownies. We’re moving out of the Mars relationship and moving into a relationship with Nestle on Butterfinger and also one with Mondelez on Oreo.”
