Quaker: The saintly fat-free snack option Quaker Oats Bridge Road Southall Middlesex UB2 4AG Tel: 020 8574 2388 Key contactS Marketing manager Sally Powell Trade marketing manager Phil Norminton Impulse/convenience national account manager Chris Styles Key Brands · Snack-a-Jacks · Harvest Chewy Cereal Bars A tasty lower-fat snack that is set to revolutionise snacking ­ that's how Quaker Oats describes its recently launched Snack-a-Jacks, the rice and corn snack that's at least 90% fat-free. At any one time in this country, about 13m women ­ half the UK's female population ­ are on a diet. And most of them are disillusioned with "better for you" snacking solutions, the taste of these products often failing to meet their expectations. According to research carried out for the company, an alarming number of women are prepared to risk their health because they feel guilty about eating fattening snacks between meals. The results showed that 84.7% feel guilty when they succumb to the urge to eat fatty snacks, with many of them prepared to make radical, potentially unhealthy changes to their diet and lifestyle in order to compensate. For example, 45.2% will skip a meal; more alarmingly, 13.6% will have a cigarette because they feel so guilty. Nevertheless, the survey also found that 55% of women believe they will only be satisfied by high-fat snacks such as chocolate, cakes or crisps, and that 45% think lower-fat snacks "taste like cardboard". A spokesperson for Snack-a-Jacks says: "We are surprised that women feel so guilty about something as natural as a snack attack feeling. "The great news is that with Snack-a-Jacks, there's no need to feel guilty or to put up with snacks that taste like cardboard, because Snack-a-Jacks taste surprisingly delicious and are at least 90% fat-free. "Even better, to avoid the temptation of the traditional snack aisle, you can find Snack-a-Jacks in the saintly' crispbread section." Figures from ACNielsen reveal that the projected brand value for Snack-a-Jacks after one full year is £33m. Quaker predicts that this figure will reach £50m in 2001. Snack-a-Jacks also have an 8.2% penetration and a 40% repeat rate; not bad, says the company, for a six-month old brand. According to Quaker Oats, variety is the king of impulse ­ so, to ensure it makes the most of the off-the-cuff purchaser, a company must offer a range of snacks that offers more interest to the impulse buyer than the multipacks do. More often than not, says the company, multipack purchases are a regular shopping list item and variety is sacrificed for the cash saving of buying in bulk. But by changing varieties regularly, independents can stay one step ahead of the multiples, which may have to stick to rigid buying rules. In keeping with its concern for providing variety, Quaker Oats makes Snack-a-Jacks in both sweet and savoury flavours. The crispy mini size comes in four flavours: caramel, cheddar cheese, chocolate and BBQ. The jumbo rice cakes are available as caramel and cheddar cheese options. Quaker believes the key drivers for the impulse snacking sector are availability, visibility and variety. Once the product is in-store and well merchandised, further display is the key to increased sales, it argues. Since snacking is by its very nature impulsive, Quaker does not consider price to be a key driver of these sales. If Snack-a-Jacks are to be a success, says Quaker Oats, it is essential that availability is maximised so the consumer can reach for the product whenever the snacking urge arises. {{Z SUPPLEMENTS }}

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