Turning Back The Clock A Look Back 25 Years Ago at Excerpts from The February 1994 Issue of The Valley Potato Grower Magazine Snack Food Industry Expects Another Profitable February The United States Snack Food Industry is anticipating another highly profitable February sales report in 1994 as a result of the sixth annual industry wide promo- tion of National Snack Food Month. Since 1990, the third year of National Snack Food Month, February snack volume growth has consistently outpaced the annual average snack volume growth for the industry. In 1992, for example, snack volume growth during Snack Food Month increased by 6 percent while the annual industry volume growth was only 5.3 percent. In 1991, the difference was even more dramatic. February snack volume increased 7.4 percent, annual industry vol- ume increased only 6.5 percent. Snack food companies and retailers celebrate the month long obser- vance by offering a host of promo- tions designed to spur snack sales. In February 1993, more than 600 special in-store displays promoted Snack Food Month to consumers. Jim Shufelt, President of the Snack Food Association (SFA) explains February snack promotions are par- ticularly appealing to supermarkets because snacks sell at 28 percent retail margin and generate up to 5 percent of store profits, while accounting for less than 3 percent of volume. Forty-seven snack food companies participated in National Snack Food Month in 1993, up 34 percent from 1992. Shufelt said, “Manufacturers are participating in record numbers and each year the promotions get bigger and better then the year before.” This year SFA will also promote Snack Food Month through video rental stores, since many Americans combine snacking with watching home videos, a concept SFA has coined “snackertainment.” Working through the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA), SFA will distribute a February wall calendar to VSDA video outlets. The poster sized cal- endar, titled “28 days, 28 ways to snackertain with snacks and home videos during national Snack Food Month,” is full of trivia on snack- ing, dip recipes and ideas on videos to rent. Shufelt credited clever promotions such as Snack Food Month for help- ing the industry increase its sales every year, no matter what the eco- nomic condition of the country. In 1992, retail snack food sales totaled more than 13.8 billion (up 2.8 per- cent from 1991) for a total of 5.18 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 14 POTATO GROWER