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AWG Brands debuts salty snacks medley

Associated Wholesale Grocers has expanded its snacks portfolio for retailer members.

AWG Brands, the private-brands portfolio of Associated Wholesale Grocers has launched an expanded salty snacks assortment from its Always Save, Best Choice, and Best Choice Superior Selections brands. This new lineup is designed to help AWG member retailers deliver value and quality to consumers in the highly competitive snack market. With the rising costs of national brand salty snack items, showcasing a larger variety of AWG Brands products in this category is intended to help build consumer price perception and loyalty.

“The salty snacks category is important because it’s the second largest in center store grocery behind water and soda,” says AWG Category Manager Jared Grieve. “From the highly anticipated Best Choice Cinnamon sugar pretzel braids to the new value-sized Always Save potato chips, the AWG Brands salty snacks assortment puts our member retailers in a better position to compete and win through quality and price.”

Always Save potato and tortilla chips have long been popular snack items for consumers. The brand’s new, larger 12.5-13 ounce-size bags reportedly enable AWG member retailers to offer even more value to customers. These larger bags are geared toward families and budget-conscious shoppers. An 8.5 oz. pork skins bag and a 25 oz. pretzels barrel are also new to the Always Save lineup.

According to the company, Best Choice is introducing an array of new flavors and products that align with national brand equivalent quality and product variety, ensuring member retailers can generate strong margins and create exciting promotional opportunities.

Highlights of the new Best Choice offerings include:

Potato Chips: The top five most popular flavors are joining the existing four Best Choice kettle chip offerings
Pretzels: A larger assortment of pretzels, including rods, sticks, waffles, and seasoned braids in a variety of flavors from savory to sweet
Tortilla Chips: Five new offerings perfect for dipping or enjoying on their own
Pork Skins: Three flavor offerings of plain, barbeque, and hot & spicy in new 5 oz. packaging
Corn Chips and Puffs: Three new corn chip varieties and one cheddar corn puff

The snacking category also includes ready-to-eat popcorn. AWG Brands offers two opening price point SKUs from Always Save and two elevated toffee nut options from Best Choice Superior Selections.

According to data provided by AWG Partner Gateway (APG) and category research, salty snacks are a top sales driver in the center store, ranking second overall with $32 billion in sales. The snacking category continues to grow, with 50% of all food occasions being snack-related.

In the U.S., private brand snack sales have reached $2.6 billion, reflecting a 14% increase from the previous year. Additionally, 55.4% of consumers are now purchasing private brand salty snacks, highlighting the increasing preference for these affordable, yet high-quality options.

Multiple teams across AWG work together on extensive assortment changes, such as this one, to ensure AWG member retailers can compete effectively across all retail formats in a given category. For salty snacks, the category management and sourcing teams adjusted the portfolio offerings and pricing, while evaluating supplier partners for cost-of-goods savings. The merchandising team updated all planograms, and the marketing and design teams created in-store signage and digital resources for consumer marketing efforts. These improvements are designed to maximize shelf appeal, optimize product placement, and ensure competitive pricing. In addition, in-store merchandising support and display vehicles are available to help member retailers go to market and display the new products, while digital coupons are enticing consumers to purchase.

“The new AWG Brands salty snacks program provides member retailers with more opportunities to deliver value and excitement to their customers while driving significant sales and margins,” reports Tye Anthony, AWG chief merchandising and marketing officer. “I’m proud of the teams across AWG that worked together to ensure this new assortment is best in class from a quality, assortment, pricing and promotional perspective.”