Dive Brief:
- About 7 in 10 football fans will overindulge on Super Bowl Sunday, with the average fan planning to eat more than 4.5 times the recommended daily calorie intake: a total of 10,821 calories and 180 grams of saturated fat, according to a new poll of 1,000 people who plan to watch the game commissioned by LetsGetChecked, an at-home testing and insights firm.
- Sales of snacks typically spike during game week. Last year, snack food sales jumped 10.3% to $404 million during Super Bowl week, according to new data from IRI commissioned by SNAC International. The biggest sales increases by category for the week are usually tortilla chips, pretzels, potato chips and dips.
- Beer is the top drink choice for Super Bowl football fans, the Beer Institute said in a release. Last year, consumers spent $1.2 billion on the beverage in the two weeks before the Super Bowl, according to Nielsen data cited by the group. The Beer Institute predicts spending to exceed $1 billion again this year.
Dive Insight:
Millions of Americans will be pigging out while watching this Sunday's Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. Despite increased consumer interest in better-for-you snacks and alternatives to beers, the eating and drinking during the big game doesn't really reflect that.
Trends from last year in beers and snacks focused on canned and bottled beer as well as chips and dips, according to Nielsen and IRI data. But the sales bump in alcohol isn't just for beer. The Beer Institute said off-premise alcohol sales in the two weeks prior to the 2019 Super Bowl included $652 million for wine and $568 million for distilled spirits.
On the snack side, SNAC International reported sales of dry dip mixes jumped 53% during Super Bowl week last year, followed by refrigerated dips with a 33% increase. Tortilla chip sales were up 24.3%, pretzels saw a 14.5% jump and potato chip sales increased by 11.8%, the group said.
This closely corresponds with what Frito-Lay's inaugural U.S. Snack Index found a year ago. The company's poll, which predicts what consumers are planning to munch on during the Super Bowl, said 80% of game day snackers planned to have potato or tortilla chips. These trends can help companies prepare for future game days as well as consumer interest all year round.
Other recent trends include a shift toward fresh-cooked chicken wings rather frozen ones, while online sales have jumped in the past two years. According to the National Chicken Council, a record-breaking 1.4 billion chicken wings will be consumed during this Super Bowl weekend, which is up 2% — or 27 million more — from last year. The council also said that about 65% of consumers who eat chicken wings said they do so while watching a major sporting event.
However, given the LetsGetChecked statistics about caloric and saturated fat intake by the average football fan, manufacturers might want to present more healthy options in future years. Plant-based snacks are more popular than ever, and beverages, spreads, dips and salad dressings all come in better-for-you versions. There's even plant-based jerky available for those craving meat-like snacks on game day. For beer drinkers, there are ever-expanding offerings of no- and low-alcohol brews.
If companies want consumers to reach for healthier snacks when the big game comes on, they may need to focus on marketing those next year. After all, the Super Bowl presents a huge audience for industry marketing purposes. According to Nielsen figures cited by TechCrunch, about 98.2 million people watched it on television last year. With that many people watching the game while stuffing their faces with food and drink, it is an opportune time for companies to watch for trends and market new innovations.