Building the sizzle in snacks for the summer
SAVOURY snacks brand Walkers is set to bring in an extra sizzle of excitement to the crisps category with the launch of a fan favourite flavours, Smokin’ BBQ Sauce.
Set to the join the core range from August, the new flavour aims to capture the demand from consumers looking for their favourite flavours and deliver more sales from the Walkers brand in the process.
Walkers Smokin’ BBQ Sauce crisps flavour is available now across grocery, convenience and wholesale channels in a variety of formats and prices to suit the breadth of consumer shopping missions in the category. This includes a 45g grab bag (RSP £1), a six pack multipack (RSP £2) and a 70g PMP format with an on-pack price of £1.25.
The new launch comes as PepsiCo, the firm behind Walkers, said that taste-led NPD has been key to category growth lately as it is the number one drive of choice for shoppers, according to PepsiCo Kantar bolt snacking tracking.
Further to this, the firm said that BBQ flavours have seen a consistent growth over the past four years, having seen its largest year-on-year jump between 2023-2024 at 3.56%, says Kantar Worldpanel research.
This marks the second time this year that the brand has responded to a massive consumer trend within the snacks category following on from the launch of its Extra Flamin’ Hot range in March.
Stephanie Herbert, senior marketing manager for Walkers, said: “We know that shoppers are constantly on the look-out for bold, great tasting flavour variations of their favourite snacks.
“Through this, we have seen BBQ become the most requested flavour on social media, so there was no better time to combine these two trends to launch our new Walkers Smokin’ BBQ Sauce SKU.
“The launch aims to help retailers boost their savoury snacking sales by providing them with an exciting, in-demand flavour that will give their shoppers the delicious taste of BBQ no matter the weather.
“We have also ensured that the NPD is available in a variety of formats to support retailers in spanning their offering across a range of shopper missions, including the increasibly popular lunchtime and on-the-go occasions.”
