Snacking Is More Expensive than Ever
Food and beverage prices rose nearly 15% in 2022 as inflation made everything more expensive. When comparing food prices to pre-pandemic levels of cost, you’ll see prices have ballooned up over 27% this year. This trend has helped drive strong sales for snacks during 2022.
Snacking Up
Total sales for snacks increased nearly 12% this year, which helped sales reach $44.9 billion. The snacking category has been outperforming the rest of food and beverages throughout the year.
As inflation has soared throughout the year, this has had a ripple effect throughout the rest of the food sector. For instance, convenience store sales boomed this year as people have looked for cheaper alternatives. Also, this has led some shoppers choosing less healthier options, with over 78% of Americans noting that inflation has impacted how they grocery shop.
Shopping Trends
Almost 20% of Americans surveyed noted how they changed primary grocery stores this year. People are now actively looking for cheaper retailers to purchase their food from. Additionally, nearly 15% of those surveyed identified how they are more likely to buy groceries that are on sale.
While many Americans have been forced to cut back on ‘non-essential’ spending, snacking has been trending up. While some shoppers are looking for cheaper deals, many have been buying larger snack packs in-bulk, to load up and save more over the long haul.
Six areas within snacks achieved double-digit dollar growth in 2022. The performance by salty snacks, which includes chips, pretzels and popcorn, were particularly strong, ringing up over $25 billion in sales.
Three areas sold more pounds year-over-year, with granola bars and rice cakes leading the way. Snack bars are now the 4th largest sub-category of snacks, trailing salty, cookies and crackers.
What it Means: In 2022 we all had to reassess how much we were spending. What’s essential vs non-essential, and how much are we willing to budget for food and groceries. While the price of everything has gone up, that hasn’t slowed down America's love of snacking. As prices increase, many shoppers have looked to buy larger quantities of snacks to help fill their fridge.
Microsoft Ready for War Over Activision Deal
Earlier in the year, we reported that Microsoft intended to acquire Activision Blizzard Inc, a very popular video game producer. Since then, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a lawsuit to block the $75 billion deal.
FTC believes Microsoft has attempted to form a monopoly, something the Xbox creators are now willing to fight in court. Microsoft has argued they actually trail their rivals in video game console sales, and they currently have a very limited presence in mobile gaming. Something the Activision deal would assuredly help with.
The FTC filed a lawsuit against MIcrosoft on December 8th, and now a response must be provided by Dec 22nd. The FTC is alleging that the deal will allow Microsoft to control how Activision games are accessed by customers. The FTC also noted they believe this deal would give Microsoft an unfair advantage over its chief rival, Sony and their Playstations.
We’ll be watching to see if FTC is able to block the planned acquisition.
Trump’s NFT Collection Immediately Sells-Out, Prices Surge
This week former president Donald Trump unveiled a new NFT trading card collection. Within 24 hours, they were all sold out. Many of the NFTs sold had a list price near $100, before selling out for double or even triple the asking price.
One of the rarest NFTs in the batch was sold for nearly $24,000. This piece included President Trump standing in front of the Statue of Liberty holding a torch. Additionally, 115 customers purchased 45 unique NFTs from Trump’s collection. That is the minimum number needed to guarantee a ticket to dinner with the former president.
Lastly, 17 individuals purchased over 100 unique Donald Trump personalized NFTs.