Perfectly Paired Snacking Solutions Hit the Sweet Spot

It’s no secret that snacking occasions can mean big business for convenience stores. Snack sales are projected to be $200 billion by 2020, and snacking is growing by 5% annually to account for more than 45% of all eating occasions.¹ Seeing an exciting opportunity for its customers, The Coca-Cola Company created the Perfectly Paired Snacking Solutions tool to provide an informed snacking strategy that leverages its custom research. Specifically, the Perfectly Paired Snacking Solutions program reveals shopper strategies and presents several new assets to drive basket penetration with snacking occasions.

Snack + Beverage Sweet Spot
Perfectly Paired Snacking Solutions is important for reaching consumers since 52% of all snacking occasions include a beverage. Customers can create customized, in-store activation plans using Perfectly Paired Snacking Solutions to help fill shoppers’ baskets with both Coca-Cola® beverages and snacks. The new tool includes inspiring features and expanded partnerships in order to win shoppers in convenience retail, grocery stores, and supermarkets.

Well-positioned to deliver on the snacking opportunity, The Coca-Cola Company has featured a brand lineup of the most popular food-pairing choices in several non-alcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) categories. Interestingly, 48% of consumers agree Coca-Cola® goes well with food, and 32% say the same for Diet Coke®.²

That’s great news for Coca-Cola customers when a trip that includes a beverage and a snack tends to bring almost twice the dollar value as a trip that includes just a beverage, or just a snack.

Increase Basket Value
According to Coca-Cola iSHOP research, 50% of annual trips do not include NARTD or snack with an average basket value of $24.15; 11% of annual trips have a snack but no NARTD with an average basket of $34.61; and 27% of trips have NARTD and no snack for an average basket of $27.05.²

When compared with trips that include both a snack and beverage, the opportunity for convenience retail stores becomes very compelling: 12% of annual trips include a snack and NARTD with an average basket value of $57.60. The result is that converting just 1% more ‘NARTD, no Snack’ and ‘Snack, no NARTD’ baskets to ‘NARTD AND Snack’ baskets is worth $8.4B annually.³

Reasons for Consumer Choice
When it comes to snacking, research shows that 62% of consumers shop with an occasion in mind and choose Coca-Cola® beverages and snacks based on three core occasions: me/we time; on-the-go; and entertaining.⁴ Based on this understanding, the Perfectly Paired Snacking Solutions tool allows customers to create activation plans based on snacking occasions, as well as store zones and snack partners.

To learn more about how to leverage the Perfectly Paired Snacking Solutions tool and find out more about the snacking + beverage opportunity, talk to your local Coca-Cola representative today.

Read Related Stories:
Perfectly Paired Solutions for Meals Offer Food Pairing Options
Snacks + Beverages = Growth Opportunity
Satisfy Demand for Snacks and Beverages On the Go
4 Ways to Sell More Snacks

^{Sources:
¹2014 Nielsen Scantrack sales data; 2011 TNS Landis Snack Study and 2014 Eating Occasions Update, The Hartman Group
² Bev360, 12MMT June 2015
³ Coca-Cola iSHOP, 12MMT June 2016, All Channels
⁴ 2014 Target Report of the Changing Beverage Market, Multi-Sponsor Surveys, Inc.}