Snacks Will Rule During Super Bowl Weekend

As the Super Bowl approaches, the grand finale of American football, consumers walk the aisles of the supermarkets in search of their favorite snacks so that they do not lack anything during the the game, which they usually enjoy in the company of their friends.

According to retail sales data, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the single-largest retail sales days for snacks at many supermarkets.

Frito-Lay North America announced its inaugural U.S. Snack Index – a poll asking consumers what they plan to snack on during this year’s big game.  

“The Super Bowl is synonymous with enjoying snacks with friends and family,” said Steven Williams, senior vice president of sales, chief commercial officer, Frito-Lay North America. “As a leader in snacking, Frito-Lay keeps its finger on the pulse of snacking, always looking at what consumers prefer. It’s interesting to see how different regions and age groups snack – whether it’s potato chips or tortilla chips, classic or spicy – everyone definitely approaches snacking in their own way.”

Key Insights From The U.S. Snack Index Included:

  • Most viewers will have potato chips or tortilla chips and intend to have a snack. Nine out of 10 viewers plan to have at least one snack during the game. In addition, 80 percent of Americans will have potato chips or tortilla chips.
  • However, no two cities are exactly alike when it comes to Super Bowl snacking preferences. Chicago’s top pick – popcorn. L.A. had the highest percentage of potato chip lovers, while Boston chose tortilla chips as their top pick. Cities like Dallas, Miami, New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C., also chose potato chips. Houston and the home of this year’s Super Bowl, Atlanta, sided with Boston in selecting tortilla chips.
  • Spicy and cheesy snacks are the MVPs with younger consumers, while others go for the classics. Nearly half of Gen Z and millennials selected cheesy snacks as a top pick. In addition, spicy snacks fared best with these age groups.
  • Salsa was the overall top dip choice. But when it came down to chip preference, French onion dip was the most popular dip for potato chips, while both salsa and guacamole came in high for tortilla chip dipping.
  • Consumers like to spread the word about their snacks. More than one-third of those polled planned to share their photos on social media.
  • Easy does it when it comes to recipes. More than half of viewers prefer to prepare simple recipes when they are attending a party or hosting their own gathering.

But Super Bowl fans will not only live that day of chips and tortilla chips.

When Los Angeles Rams face New England Patriots for the Lombardi Trophy, fans will consume a total of 1.38 billion chicken wings, an increase of 27 million from 2018, according to the National Chicken Council (NCC).

Due to this astronomical volume of chicken wings that will be consumed during the weekend of the NFL Grand Final, NCC is petitioning President Trump and Congress to declare the Monday after the Super Bowl a federal holiday: “National Chicken Wing Appreciation Day” and to support for the federal holiday the NCC asked the fans to sign the petition online.