Summer is the season for snacking. Data from consumer insights firm Circana shows that 46% of Americans report eating three or more snacks per day. There are hundreds of tasty options for individual investors looking to avoid hangry moments and get their summer snack game on. Whether for a trip to the beach, tailgating before a show, or prepping for a flight, packaged snacks are a necessity.

Snacks focus on convenience and taste, and snackers have been snapping up Uncrustables®, made by The J.M. Smucker Co. (Tii:SJM), since 1998. Uncrustables® are a hit because they are a more accessible and convenient version of the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The handheld sandwich appeals to children and adults who don’t want crust or who simply value convenience. An easy on-the-go snack, Uncrustables® have become popular with concertgoers, athletes looking for easy calorie intake, and professionals looking for a quick lunch. Retail shareholders who hold one share of The J.M. Smucker Co. and have a free TiiCKER account can grab a $2 discount off a 10-count box of Peanut Butter and Honey Spread Uncrustables® or Chocolate Flavored Hazelnut Spread Uncrustables® on our SJM brand page.

Snacking isn’t just for children. According to SNAC International, a snack food trade group, busy Americans are integrating their favorite snacks into meals, up 35% over previous years. Once a week, more than 1/2 of consumers use both sweet and savory snacks as a key ingredient in no-prep dinners. In fact, some consumers would rather snack than eat a traditional meal.

In March, Mondelēz International (Tii:MDLZ) shared its fifth annual State of Snacking report. The global consumer trends study analyzes findings about the way consumers make snacking choices. Developed in partnership with The Harris Poll, this report has been tracking attitudes and behaviors among consumers across 12 countries since 2019. Results have shown that consumers consistently prioritize snacking and make space in their budgets for their favorite snacks. And for five years straight, findings have shown that people prefer snacks over meals. Six out of 10 consumers surveyed prefer to have small meals throughout the day, as opposed to a few large ones.

What are snackers eating? Category-specific data revealed that while potato chips led the salty snack category with $8.6 billion in sales, tortilla chip sales increased last year by 9.5%. The pretzel category experienced a 2.2% growth in unit sales with an 8.7% increase in dollar sales. “Salty snacks have bucked the trends with continued growth driven by tortilla chips,” said Sally Lyons Wyatt, executive vice president and practice leader of client insights at Circana. “The taste, texture and versatility of tortilla chips appeal, and they are a favorite of the younger generations due to tremendous innovation with products.”

People are loyal to their snack brands, just as retail shareholders are loyal to public companies that reward their investors with stock perks. Consider the example of OREO. Nabisco, a subsidiary of Mondelēz International, makes sandwich cookie favorite OREO. According to a study that measured the popularity of food brands by the number of hashtags used, OREO is the most popular food brand on Instagram. OREO led the pack with 9,776,758 hashtags, which was 6 million more hashtags than any other food brand in the ranking. OREO has an impressive social following of 3.6 million on Instagram.

Snackers fall into one of two categories: lovers of sweet or salty treats.

DORITOS® are one of the top-selling salty treats. They are made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo (Tii:PEP). Whether poolside or at a picnic, chips capture the largest share of the snack food market.

On the sweet side, many consumers reach for Kellanova’s (Tii:K) Rice Krispies Treats™. In a poll by market research company Hubscore that ranked snack favorites by state, Rice Krispies Treats™ were the favorite in 18 of the 50 states. Rice Krispies Treats™ have the appeal of being part cereal, part snack bar and part sweet treat that doesn’t stain your fingers or create a lot of crumbs. Some exercise influencers on TikTok have even recommended it as a pre-workout snack.

So whether on the boat, at the beach or around a campfire, snacks are a staple of summer. Just how prevalent is snacking? According to a 2022 Food Insight survey, 73% of respondents snack at least once a day, with 34% snacking once, 25% snacking twice, and 14% snacking three or more times. And a 2020 New York Post article reported that the average US consumer spends $9.22 per week on snacks, which is almost $30,000 over a lifetime — a delicious statistic for any retail shareholder considering an investment in the snack food industry.