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Source: Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash

Publishing: 19 April 2025

Advertising deadline: 4 April 2025

Submissions deadline: 28 March 2025

Feature one: Flavour innovation

Daniel Selwood (Daniel.Selwood@thegrocer.co.uk)

UK crisps, nuts and bagged snacks brands have been cranking up their innovation pipelines over the past year, with a slew of new flavours and formats hitting the market. And it seems to be paying off: only two of the ten biggest crisps and snacks brands have suffered units losses in the past year and healthier alternatives like nuts and seeds are also in strong growth [NIQ 52 w/e 22 February 2025]. Overall bagged snack sales are up 2.7% in value and by 0.8 in units [Kantar 52 w/e 26 January 2025]. “Innovation is key to bringing in new shoppers, boosting weight of purchase and adding relevancy in a space increasingly affected by HFSS legislation,” says Kantar analyst Thomas Walker. So which innovations have been most successful? Are spicy flavours still the hottest trend? And what’s in store for the coming year?

Flavour trends: This feature will pay close attention to how flavour trends are evolving. There’s been plenty of hot and spicy flavour launches in the past year; how are they doing? What’s likely to be the hottest trend this year? And where does all this leave the classics, like ready salted and cheese & onion?

Healthier snacking: Numbers from NIQ show that sales of nuts and seeds are booming. Why? To what extent is this being driven by HFSS regulations, which (in theory) have made high footfall spots in larger stores off limits for standard crisps brands? How are the HFSS-friendly products brands have launched in recent years performing?

Innovation: This feature will pay close attention to the latest trends in the market and how this is playing out in terms of product innovation We will profile eight new products or ranges, ideally ones that have not appeared in The Grocer before. We need launch date, rsp, and a hi-res picture of each.

Feature two: The rise of viral snack brands

Alice Leader (Alice.Leader@thegrocer.co.uk)

Crisps, nuts and bagged snacks brands are going viral. One brand, which claims to have achieved global sales of $2bn after amassing millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram, is winning growing shelf space in the UK after launching last year. A 2024 report by social & influencer marketing agency Goat identified two brands as food and drinks brands that are “crushing it” on TikTok, and a market-leader has been pushing the relaunch of its co-branded flavour on the social media platform. So what does it take to go viral? Who’s doing it best? Has it ever backfired on a brand? How much investment does it take compared to traditional media channels? What is the model? Is it simply a case of sending your products out to as many influencers as possible and hoping they’ll post about them or do you have to be more targeted than that? And which snack brands are selling direct to consumers on social ecommerce platforms like TikTok Shop?

Viral snacks brands: We will profile the Tik Tok activities of four snacks brands, weighing up how successful they have been and why.

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