Crisps and tortilla chips top Super Bowl snack indulgence

As the most anticipated marketing event in the US calendar - Super Bowl Sunday – approaches, market analysts Nielsen predicts snack sales could hit nearly $600m (€455m) in the run-up to event.

"Super Bowl Sunday is the most important snack purchasing day of the entire year," said the analyst in a report released this week.

“Crisps and tortilla chips will dominate consumer spending patterns for snacks, with crisps enjoying "the largest dollar and volume sales," added the report.

For the Super Bowl in 2008 sales for crisps pulled in nearly $147m (€111m) in sales.

Winners

But the enduring appeal of tortilla chips was also evident, with this popular dipping snack generating the largest incremental gains: $20.7m (€15.7m) and 8.3m pounds above average sales figures. In total, tortilla chip products collectively registered a considerable $124.5m (€94.3m) in sales.

Further down the scale, 'unpopped' popcorn witnessed nearly $37m (€28m) in sales, a 20 per cent leap on the two-week average spend. Curiously, during the same Super Bowl period, sales for 'popped' popcorn actually fell by 22.9 per cent when compared to the two-week average.

Coupled with the 'chip' is the dip, and Nielsen said the Super Bowl period last year injected massive double digit growth of 38 per cent for dip mixes when compared to their two-week average.

Further, sales for canned dips rose by 24.5 per cent, which, according to the analyst, represented the biggest percentage surge in sales compared to other snacks for the Super Bowl.

Losers

Pretzels, trail mixes, snack-variety packs and potato sticks all recorded lower percentage sales figures against their two-week average.

Health boost

Sales for healthy snacks surged during the Super Bowl period last year, as the nutritionally aware consumer plucked health positioned foods in the snack section of the supermarket shelves.

Rice Cakes enjoyed an 11.3 per cent bump in sales in the days surrounding the Super Bowl last year, while health bars witnessed a 3.1 per cent boost.

The advertising game

In terms of advertising, the cost of a 30-second spot in last year’s Super Bowl was $2.7m (€2.1m), with total spending for the game reaching over $195m (€148m) .

This year’s matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers is scheduled for February 1 in Tampa, Florida.