LEXANA, KAN. — In the words of Andrew P. Callahan, chief executive officer of Hostess Brands, Inc., the future of snacking is bright.

“Well at a macro level, consumers have been increasing their snacks and engagement with food for years,” Mr. Callahan told Brad Smith during a May 17 appearance on “Yahoo! Finance.” “The average consumer, nearly 50% of consumers, snack three times a day. And that’s an indulgent snack, is increasing at greater rate than health and wellness or functional snacks. So this is a macro trend that accelerated in the pandemic. And consumers are looking for more contemporary, indulgent snacks that fit their lifestyle.”

Mr. Callahan went on to discuss how the company is making its snacks smaller and easier to eat. 

“We’re also increasing the amount of times they come back and buy us multiple times,” he said. “And the way they snack is different. They’re looking for not compromising on the indulgence. They want it in smaller bites and convenience. And some of the products you’re talking about, whether it’s Kazbars that we just launched or Bouncers, they fit that bill. They’re very convenient. They’re very shareable for the millennial parents. And they’re more indulgent and potentially larger for a c-store male. We’re really focused on them. And our strategy appears to be working.”

Mr. Callahan also said customer relations is important to the company. 

“We work with consumers and share that data, and try to partner with them on category growth,” he explained. “Our strategy is to grow the category and bring more consumers into snacking is aligned with what our customers want to do. So we have relatively short shelf life. We invest in quality, and we’re baked goods. So we have relatively short shelf life. So we don’t see that issue. But we empathize with our customer and always working to try to solve their problems.”

When asked about the quality of Hostess snack products, Mr. Callahan said it’s his biggest priority next to making sure his employees are safe. 

“…consumers’ ubiquity of love of baked goods is universal,” Mr. Callahan said. “Their love of snacks is universal. And we’re trying to bring them in contemporary ways. And we try to do it in a quality way.”