Lil' Drug Store Products Expands Assortment of "Better-for-You" Snacks
Cedar Rapids (May 8, 2017): Lil' Drug Store Products has agreed to become the exclusive convenience channel marketer of Popchips and Sensible Foods Crunch Dried Fruit brands. The addition of these "better-for-you" (BFY) snacks expands Lil' Drug's effort to help convenience retailers meet the growing demand for healthy snacking.
According to Nielsen retail sales data, BFY salty snacks have grown +15.7% annually since 2011. Recent consumer trends point to continued growth of "better-for-you" snacks. Nielsen recently reported that consumer demand is increasing for snacks with healthy attributes like less sugar and non-GMO.
Lil' Drug Store Products entered the BFY snacks category by collaborating with Calbee Harvest Snaps in June 2016. With the addition of Popchips and Sensible Foods Crunch Dried Fruit, Lil' Drug has a variety of snack brands that taste great and feature consumer preferred healthy snack attributes. Lil' Drug plans to merchandise the brands in healthy snack displays and snack sections at convenience stores.
"We are excited to partner with Lil' Drug Store Products," said Dan O'Koniewski, Popchips' Director of Channel Marketing. "When we evaluated how to sell Popchips in convenience stores, we learned that Lil' Drug was an industry leader that had a detailed understanding of the convenience store shopper. We believe Lil' Drug will help Popchips thrive in convenience stores."
The c-store channel is typically a top retail destination for snack purchases, but many healthy snacks categories are underdeveloped in convenience stores. For example, dried fruit snack sales in c-stores are less than 5% of the dollar sales in Grocery and Mass retailers. Lil' Drug plans to bring more healthy snacks to convenience stores.
"Convenience store retailers know that shoppers want healthier snacks, but many chains don't know which items to carry," said Doug Marquardt, Lil' Drug Store Products Director of Marketing. "Now retailers that partner with Lil' Drug can feel confident they have the right assortment to satisfy the health conscious shopper."
Lil' Drug Store Products' expansion into the healthy snacks category is another innovation from the company focused on meeting convenience store shopper and retailer needs.