The $21 billion U.S. salty snack market grew 23% from 1998 to 2003. American consumers eat four or more snacks a day and consume more than 6.5 billion pounds of snack food annually. As such, salty snacks account for slightly over half of total snack sales and are consequently a large part of the American diet.

The salty snack market as defined by this report is composed of eight segments, led by potato chips, tortilla chips and snack nuts and seeds. Growth in the market is driven by convenience factors and flavor trends, and is influenced by diet and health concerns.

Key growth categories are those that offer the most product variations adhering to convenience, flavor and health trends. In terms of health, interests in salty snack products that are organic or all natural, low-calorie, low-fat, low-carbohydrate, low-sodium or offer health-promoting benefits such as soy or the elimination of trans fat are in greater demand by consumers. In fact, some 34% of new salty snack products introduced in 2003 featured some type of healthy positioning.

Although consumers are interested in healthier snack products, they are not willing to sacrifice flavor. Intense and full-flavor snacks remain an important trend in the salty snack market. Finally, convenience continues to be a major factor—influencing not only the packaging and shapes of salty snacks, but also the convenience of purchase of such products.

Overall, Mintel expects that growth experienced by the salty snack market through 2008 will be fuelled primarily by the potato chip, tortilla chip, snack nuts and corn snacks segments, all projected to increase by more than 20% through 2008.

For the purposes of this report, the following products are included in the salty snack market:

potato chips

corn and tortilla chips and snacks

extruded cheese snacks (e.g. Cheetos)

RTE popcorn and caramel corn

microwave and unpopped popcorn

snack nuts and seeds, including toasted corn nuts

pretzels

other salty snacks including pork rinds, onion rings, snack mixes, vegetable chips, and shoestring potatoes

Excluded are the following:

crackers

rice cakes

meat snacks (covered in Mintel’s Meat Snacks―U.S., consumer intelligence, May 2003)

A number of U.S. consumer intelligence reports covering other related sectors have been published, are planned or are in preparation, including:

Nuts & Dried Fruit—U.S., consumer intelligence, February 2004

Low Carb—U.S., consumer intelligence, May 2004

Vending—U.S., consumer intelligence, December 2003

Ingredient Trends—U.S., consumer intelligence, December 2003

Breakfast Cereals—U.S., consumer intelligence, November 2003

Functional Food—U.S., consumer intelligence, October 2003

Crackers—U.S., consumer intelligence, September 2003

Cookies & Cookie Bars—U.S., consumer intelligence, August 2003

Kid’s Snacking—U.S., consumer intelligence, August 2003

Meat Snacks—U.S., consumer intelligence, May 2003

Attitudes Towards Diet and Exercise—U.S., consumer intelligence, July 2003

Healthy Snacking—U.S., consumer intelligence, July 2003

Frozen Snacks—U.S., consumer intelligence, October 2002

Kids’ and Teens’ Eating Habits—U.S., consumer intelligence, May 2002

Eating Habits, Attitudes & Concerns—U.S., consumer intelligence, February 2002

This report contains IRI InfoScan data.