Category Captain: Salty Snacks: Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods has worked hard to make pepperoni more than just a pizza topping, and the company continues to innovate this important segment of salty snacks. Its most recent developments, innovative products for snacking and versatility, are helping grocers build their salty snack business.

Although Hormel already offered a wide variety of pepperoni shapes, sizes and flavors, its research proved that consumers sought even more convenient ways to consume the protein-packed snacks. To meet these needs, Hormel Foods during the past year launched Pepperoni Stix Snacks, all of which are sugar-free, require no refrigeration or preparation, and are packaged in convenient, easy-to-open pouches that make them an ideal on-the-go snack for both kids and adults.

The products have experienced tremendous year-over-year growth of more than 500 percent at grocery stores with $2 million or more in sales, while opening up new selling opportunities for Hormel’s retail partners.