For a long time now, the date of July 1 will have been highlighted in red ink on your calendar. That inky outline is just as bold in the offices of snacks manufacturers, for they see the start of the English smoking ban as a new dawn for their products.
According to the likes of Walkers, Sun Valley and United Biscuits (UB), the ban will provide a boost to sales of crisps and nuts. They have experience in Scotland and Wales where the ban started last month that suggests the new conditions create more demand for their savoury treats. Sun Valley, for example, saw a spike of between 15 and 20 per cent in the first three months after the ban in Scotland.
There are many possible reasons for this (see box overleaf), all tied in to the immense importance of food overall in attracting new customers to pubs and keeping old ones from running scared from the new conditions.
UB, owner of McCoy¹s and KP, points to Mitchells & Butlers research in the Scottish market that found its drinks sales had dropped by one per cent and its food sales had risen by one per cent since the introduction of the ban.
Whatever is causing the trend, snacks do seem to be proving more moreish under smoke-free conditions. Pubs, the snacks producers say, need to be prepared to take a bite out of this phenomenon too.
Sun Valley marketing manager Jonathan Barr says: "Pubs need to be addressing their ranges in terms of visibility, merchandising and variety. Treat the snack range like a shop window people who haven¹t really looked at the snacks before will be taking an interest, and they need to see the full variety that¹s available."
Mark Sugden, director of customer marketing at UB, confirms: "For there to be this opportunity, it requires pubs and bars to push snacks further than they are at the moment." So how do you do this? Walkers, Sun Valley and UB all make similar recommendations, and are not short of means to help pubs act on their advice.
The products need to be seen by the customer in prominent positions at the point at which they make their orders, they all agree. This will drive impulse, or unplanned, purchases. UB research in March showed the convenience and impulse snacks market, taking in purchases in the on-trade, was worth £505m in the past year, and had grown 3.7 per cent in 12 months.
Mark estimates 30 per cent of snacks purchases are unplanned. He suggests ³signposting snacking opportunities on the back-bar² through display items such as stacks, clips or point-of-sale material.
There seem to be more types of snacks available on the market than ever before. There are parsnip, beetroot and sweet potato and other quirky flavours from small companies such as Jonathan Crisp. There are McCoy¹s Big Nuts, which come in flavourings you would traditionally find only in crisps.
And there are Pretz, Sun Valley¹s low-fat pretzels. Customers are often looking for more than the same four or five basic products.
"You need to have standard products, but people are also looking for choice even more so with the smoking ban," explains Mark. "Having some extreme flavours, such as McCoy¹s Specials or Tortillas, will be a bit of a talking point, a sensation beyond that of just drinking." There are different types and sizes of serve to bear in mind too. Offering innovative products those that can be easily shared, for example can capitalise on the new opportunity represented by the smoking ban.
Mark Doherty, Walkers customer business manager for the on-trade, says: "Ready salted, cheese and onion and salt and vinegar still account for more sales than anything else." However, he adds that sharing portions such as Walkers¹ Big Eat packs are playing an increasing role in driving these snack standards.
These 50g packs, he says, "work for two reasons. Around 40 per cent of crisps sold in pubs are shared. The 50g bag is better suited to that. It¹s also not as price sensitive and gives you a differentiation from the high street. So you can sell it at a more premium rate."
Following on from this is the need to be aware of trading customers up. It is thought that the smoking ban will bring in new types of customers, perhaps more discerning, food-conscious groups. Mark Sugden believes the trading-up tactic has become all-important. "It¹s become such a common procedure that it is happening in service stations," he says. "It proves that there is a definite opportunity to up-sell to consumers." Brands such as McCoy¹s Specials or Tortillas offer this cachet, UB claims.
Another brand targeted at the premium end of the market is Walkers Sensations. Walkers is working to foster that image in the on-trade through an initiative of the kind that is becoming a popular way of increasing incremental sales of snacks.
Its 'Divine with Wine' campaign encourages linking snacks with wine, suggesting various flavours of the crisps to go with different wines.
Already running in the off-trade, Mark Doherty says it will launch soon in the on-trade, 'timed to be a summer activity'.
"There is no reason we can¹t introduce more couples or groups of young women to Sensations this way," he says.
Almost every consumer is becoming more concerned with health issues these days, a factor that will surely increase in importance after July 1, when pubs become healthier environments through losing their smoke. And the snacks companies are not short of products to target these customers. Almost all of them have reduced their ranges' fat and salt content.
"It¹s becoming the norm that packets will have healthier credentials than they have had in the past," says Mark Sugden. This is why the saturated fat content of McCoy¹s and Mini Cheddars has recently been reduced by 30 per cent. Baked products, such as Mini Cheddars, also "have a perceived healthier image", he adds.
Walkers products are all now cooked in Sunseed oil a move which, according to Mark Doherty, has reduced the saturated fat content by between 60 and 70 per cent.
Sun Valley¹s core King of Nuts range is to get a facelift in July and will feature more product information on the packaging. Jonathan says: "People think salted peanuts are bad for you. In fact, they¹re not. There¹s less salt in a packet than there is in a slice of bread, and less than in dry roasted nuts, where the salt is embedded in the coating."
Reasons snacks should sell well under the ban
- Customers used to smoking and having their hands occupied with a cigarette are replacing it indoors with a packet of crisps
- The ban is drawing into pubs customers who may not have walked through the doors before because of the smoky atmosphere. Women and families are more likely to be eating
- Snacks are easier than more complex food for people to eat outside, something becoming more common with the growing number of pubs opening outdoor areas for smokers.