How produce plays into snack-loving viewers of Super Bowl LVI
It’s safe to say that the 56th Super Bowl of the National Football League at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., will be watched by millions who want to be snacking the whole time.
Super Bowl 55 was seen by 96.4 million people—including out-of-home viewers—across all platforms, according to Adweek.
That’s a lot of consumers who want to eat in a span of four hours.
And more people, especially millennials, are looking for convenience when they eat. “So, it should come as no surprise that ‘Super Bowl snacks’ won out over ‘Super Bowl recipes’ in Google search,” according to Produce Marketing Association article on tips for Super Bowl social media strategy. “Up your game by adding ‘healthy’ to the mix: Google trends show that a search for healthy Super Bowl snacks won out as the most searched term over a 10-year period.”
And according to Frito Lay’s U.S. Snack Index poll conducted a month before the 2021 Super Bowl, almost eight in 10 Americans expect snacks to be available at a Super Bowl event.
Retail sales data shows Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest day of the year for salty snacks, generating about $520 million in one day, according to a news release.
"The Super Bowl is ingrained in American culture and a top week for the business of snacks," Mike Del Pozzo, senior vice president of sales of Frito-Lay North America, said in the release. "For Frito-Lay, the Super Bowl is a cross-functional effort involving our sales, operations and marketing teams to ensure consumers have the best Super Bowl experience.”
And what do chips need? Dip. And what is in many dips? Vegetables.
Salsa and guacamole were among the top four dips consumers prefer for Super Bowl snacking, according to the report.
Read related: Avocado tackles the whole football season
Other key insights from the annual U.S. Snack Index around Super Bowl 55 snacking include:
- 91% of Americans said they will watch the Super Bowl, and most will watch regardless of who is playing;
- Super Bowl party goers are there for the food and prefer snacks; 90% say a Super Bowl spread isn't complete without snacks and dips;
- For the second year in a row, salsa was the favorite dip. The top five favorite dips to pair with Super Bowl snacks include: salsa (16%), cheese dips and spreads (13%), French onion dip (13%), guacamole (12%), and buffalo chicken dip (12%); and
- Spicy and out-of-the-box flavors are hot with younger consumers. While all generations are most likely to prefer the classic flavors (53%), Gen Z and millennials favor flavors like hot and spicy or more elevated or amplified flavors. Consumers felt the same way in 2019.
Athletic avocado
Like Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Budweiser, Avocados from Mexico didn’t do TV ads during the 2021 Super Bowl, but it’s back for the 2022 game.
Former New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees will star in the avocado promotion group’s 30-second television spot and play the starring role in consumer retail promotions.
The Feb. 12-13 Super Bowl weekend coincides with the peak availability of Mexican avocados, when Avocados from Mexico is responsible for 95% of avocado sales in the U.S. during that weekend, according to the group.
“The Big Game has always been an effective way for us to connect with avocado-obsessed consumers,” AFM president and CEO Alvaro Luque said in the release.
In January, a QR code on Avocados from Mexico Big Game displays will lead consumers to the “Get in the Guac Zone” digital landing page, where they have the chance to win a $100,000 Smart Home Makeover and get a digital selfie with Brees.
Read related: Avocados From Mexico partners with NFL star Drew Brees to “Get In The Guac Zone” for The Big Game
Other produce players
You know what else is salty and snackable? Nuts. And Wonderful Pistachios knows this and markets their nuts accordingly during the Super Bowl. Adventurous ad-ins to guacamole, such as pomegranate arils, are also a great way to draw to football foodies.
Pomegranates from California are available October through February, lasting through Super Bowl weekend, said Maurice Cameron, president of Flavor Tree Fruit Co., Hanford, Calif. “Super Bowl is the biggest seller for avocadoes, and the best dip is guacamole, and people are putting pomegranates on it,” Cameron said. He mentioned how good TikTok has been for pomegranates and encourages retailers and marketers to use that any way they can, finding viral pomegranate trends and referring to them at point-of-sale displays and online stores.
Tomatoes, onions, limes, cilantro, pineapples, mangos — anything you’d put in a salsa — are prime players for promotion. A week before Super Bowl LV, Google Trends released the most popular uniquely searched Super Bowl recipes, by state. Besides popular dips, wings and chili, jalapeno poppers showed up in several states across the country, from Washington state to Tennessee. Also, people in western states searched for potatoes and those in Delaware looked for stuffed pepper recipes.
