It might be common advice to eat three square meals a day, but that’s not a reality for most consumers. In fact, 48% of Americans snack throughout the day, according to Technomic’s 2016 Snacking Occasion report. Those foods are consumed either as snacks in their own right or as meal replacements, but either way, snacks are now an important part of consumers’ eating habits.
To boost snack sales, it’s vital that retailers offer the right mix of products for their customer base. It’s also crucial, says Donna Hood Crecca, Associate Principal at Technomic, that items are kept fresh throughout the day, “so rotating stock and highlighting the fresh factor is important. Snacks can be both planned and impulse purchases, so showcasing what’s available through attractive merchandisers, appealing signage and packaging is key.”
Using two warmers and two chillers allow convenience stores to not only offer snacks in a visually appealing way, but with the former, to add scents to the store. Scents in the store can significantly increase snacks’ appeal and comfort level.
Hatco’s MVW mini vertical warmer heats products from four sides and can be placed on a countertop or mounted on a wall. Up to seven can be connected while using just one standard outlet.
The MDW mini display warmer has a small footprint and can be placed on a countertop, affixed to a wall or stacked. It circulates warm air and has magnetically adjustable shelves so can be used for larger items. “The great thing about these is they can be used for different products through the day—cinnamon rolls in the morning, pretzels at lunchtime and cookies in the afternoon,” says Lou Anich, Hatco’s director of key accounts.
For cold foods, drop-in cold wells are ideal. They come in many different sizes for refrigerated snacks, and frost tops are available for foods that don’t need to be refrigerated, but which taste better chilled, Anich says—foods like sliced fruit, cut veggies and hummus. The frost top mounts flush to a countertop.
The important factor for all these pieces of equipment is that they “pull up merchandising a notch,” Anich says. “And, they offer a variety of food for customers to grab and go. They don’t have to ask for it and wait for it to be served.” It’s mostly about the visuals, he says, “but you’ve got the smells, too. A warm cinnamon bun is much more appealing than a room temperature one, and warm foods have more perception of freshness and trigger a response.”
And while these foods will likely appeal to everyone, they’re particularly appealing to younger consumers. According to Technomic’s 2016 Snacking Occasion report, two fifths of Gen Z and millennial snack occasions overall occur away from home, compared with a quarter for older consumers.
As for when they want the snacks, it’s all day long, though lunch is the big meal to replace with a snack. According to the Technomic report, more than half (55%) of consumers sometimes replace lunch with a snack, compared to just 10% who replace dinner with snacks and 42% for breakfast.
It’s not difficult to be a snack destination, says Hood Crecca. “Customers need to know what’s available, and also what need-state snack items satisfy, so messaging around the satisfying aspects of chicken nuggets or health attributes of a hummus and carrot cup is important.”
This post is sponsored by Hatco