Presenting at the 2012 National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Leadership Forum, the NACS vice president of research Dae Kim delved into the importance snack sales play to this retail market. Kim noted the per-store sales of snacks (candy, salty, sweet and alternative snacks) stood at roughly $2,500 in 1975 but were a stalwart $13,500 in 2010. And, “while snacks draw about 10% of c-store trips, snackers dominate impulse sales (accounting for about 35%).”
Sometimes a lack of big news during a year is actually good news. Bakery companies that remember the Atkins Diet and its characterization of carbohydrates as the devil incarnate can breathe a sigh of relief that 2011 did not bring about any such black swans. Still, 2011 will go down as a slightly off year for baked goods, with declines in some categories outweighing gains in other categories.