SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. — When it comes to driving sales in the snack market, one word quickly comes to Christine Cochran and that’s innovation.

“Our consumers expect our products to evolve and enjoy exploring new products,” said the president and chief executive officer of SNAC International. “Since last year, we have seen the category lean into innovation, and there is some incredible work being done.”

At last year’s Executive Leadership Forum (ELF), Sally Lyons Wyatt, global executive vice president and chief adviser, consumer goods and foodservice at Circana, told SNAC International attendees that innovation was slipping, impacting unit and dollar sales.

At this year’s ELF, being held Oct. 14-16 in Santa Barbara, Calif., Cochran said innovation and how the snack producers approach it will be one of the many focuses at this SNAC International event that attracts top leaders in the industry. 

New products are one of many topics that are top of mind with Cochran as she discussed the state of SNAC International, the overall snack industry, the broader consumer packaged goods (CPG) market and more with Baking & Snack prior to the event.

How would you describe the state of the snack industry? 

I can’t answer that question without talking about consolidation and inflation. Typically, when there’s reporting on consolidation, there’s a sense of negativity, but I find these companies moving into this space in bigger ways a real positive sign. What we see is larger CPG companies recognizing the power of the category and wanting to establish their presence there. That’s evident in Mars’ intent to acquire Kellanova. We also saw it with Hershey’s and Campbell Soup making acquisitions in the past. Now we’re also seeing it with PepsiCo looking for more growth in the better-for-you space with the acquisition of Siete Foods. This is consolidation happening at a very high level, but we’re also seeing it in the mid-market space as well as in the co-manufacturing space. Recently, CK Snacks acquired Axium Foods, which are two mid-sized manufacturers joining together. We perceive it as a sign of companies investing in our category and as an opportunity.

How has the overall economy impacted the snack industry?

The challenge that the industry continues to face is inflation. For consumers, the grocery bill has gotten higher, which has forced them to prioritize their shopping and rethink the formats they purchase. Over the past two years, the first in many, we have seen the snack category fall in terms of volume significantly. While we continue to see innovation, we also know the supply chain has been strained as well as labor costs influencing pricing. As the economy rebounds, we expect the category to rebound as well. Coming out of the most recent Federal Reserve reports is that rebound, and it’s going to be fun to watch in category growth as well as innovation at both large and small companies.

How is SNAC strengthening the industry through its networking initiatives?

We take our networking very seriously. We believe that one of our functions is supporting the industry to drive growth, and we’ve done that over the past few years by revamping our classic trade shows. We run SNAXPO every other year and that’s a classic trade show, and in the alternate years, we run SNX, which is an alternative format that grew 30% last year. Between the two complementary shows, we are able to touch more facets of our businesses and bring people together in a very economical way. We see those two as big drivers for growth and business across the category.

What are your expectations for next year’s show?

SNAXPO has always been an international show, but now that we’re removed from COVID, SNAC is putting more resources into growing the international presence at SNAXPO (to be held Mar. 30-Apr. 1 in Orlando, Fla.), and we’re planning now how to make international attendees feel welcome and gain value from their SNAXPO experience. You can expect added Latin American education at SNAXPO and facilitated networking opportunities.

How is the association enhancing its educational agenda?

We think it’s important for our industry to have a baseline level of education about a variety of topics, and we take that very seriously. SNAC has offered as a free member benefit a marketing symposium in partnership with the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and our emerging leaders’ program that we do in partnership with Georgetown University. Both of these sell out every year and are immensely successful. In 2024, we’ve added to our education program by launching our first Women in Snacks in-person event, which brought together women in the snack industry along with their allies to talk about the issues and educate everyone on leadership for women in the workplace. This fall, we’re launching our first Legal Forum (Nov. 12-13 in Washington) where we will focus on legal and regulatory issues facing the snack industry.

What are SNAC’s biggest opportunities when it comes to advocacy for its members?

SNAC’s main goal is to advocate for responsible public policy that will allow our member companies to continue to provide Americans with delicious, convenient and affordable snacking choices. This year has been very eventful for SNAC International. While we monitor a number of issues impacting the snack industry, there are three we focus on and put a lot of our resources behind. Those are California’s Prop 65, sodium reduction and the federal SNAP Choice. All of those have been active in 2024, and we expect them to be active issues in 2025. One of the things SNAC does really well is align our advocacy priorities with the needs of the industry. In 2025, you will continue to see our commitment to our three leading priorities, but you will also notice our advocacy program expand as the challenges to the industry expand.

What new initiatives are SNAC International looking to broaden to better serve its members?

One of the ways SNAC has always created value for its members is by allowing them access to category data and providing venues for them to learn about how trends are creating new opportunities or challenges. We do this through partnerships with organizations like Circana and Sosland Publishing. We’re taking this to the next level in 2025 through the creation of SNACtrac, which is a member-exclusive industry data platform that presents detailed trending data for key US economic and snack food industry-specific indicators. Updated quarterly, SNACtrac is designed to equip members with information they need to make smart business decisions. The platform will feature data on commodities, food prices, transportation, labor and wages, snack sales data, and will also include survey answers directly from SNAC members on the states of their businesses and outlook for the future. 

What are the goals for SNAC International in 2025?

We will have a continued focus on SNAXPO growth via international companies, new product categories and deeper representation from major CPG companies as a vehicle to strengthen the association and membership. I think, for the industry as a whole, it’s continued growth and expansion of the category.