Conagra Brands is focusing on co-branded snacks, releasing a variety of new products over the last year through partnerships with Buffalo Wild Wings, Taco Bell and others; meanwhile, launching products with popular flavors like pickle and churro.
The CPG giant spotlighted the newest products from their $3.2 billion snacks portfolio during the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) tradeshow in mid-October.
“We’re strong believers in the flavor equity and the cues that a Taco Bell brings, or Buffalo Wild Wing brings – people immediately associate that with a certain flavor expectation,” said Dan Skinner, head of brand and trade media relations at Conagra. “We’re able to meet that and give them that delight of, ‘Wow, that tastes like Taco Bell Fire Sauce, and that tastes like Buffalo Wild Wings sauce.’”
Meat snack competition heats up
Conagra’s collaboration with Buffalo Wild Wings, one of the biggest casual dining restaurant chains in the country, was front and center at the food manufacturer’s booth at NACS.
Slim Jim, a Conagra-owned company, released the co-branded dried meat sticks in early September in two flavors – buffalo style and hot.
Citing Circana data, Conagra said in September that chicken sticks have experienced 84% sales growth over the past three years and noted in its first annual Future of Snacking Report that meat snacks are now among the biggest sellers in the snacks category.
“It’s really meant to give you that chicken wing experience, so it tastes very different than our normal Slim Jim,” according to Slim Jim Brand Director Matthew Brown, who said Slim Jim is expanding the launch of the co-branded meat snacks to convenience stores in November.
“It’s been out for about a month now, and the fans are excited; the first read of data is really strong, so we’re excited to get this one out into customers’ hands,” he said.
Slim Jim also highlighted a newer member to the Conagra family of products: FATTY Smoked Meat Sticks. Conagra purchased Sweetwood Smoke & Co., owner of the FATTY brand, in August 2024.
“The acquisition of FATTY Smoked Meat Sticks is another step in reshaping our portfolio for faster growth,” said Sean Connolly, president and chief executive officer of Conagra Brands, in the acquisition announcement. “Adding a premium brand such as FATTY to our growing, better-for-you snack portfolio is consistent with our strategic focus on the snacking and frozen categories.”
The grass-fed, antibiotic-free snacks aim to capture the rising trend in better-for-you options.
“Protein is more on trend than ever, and consumers are turning to meat snacks,” Brown said. “The growth is just explosive. We like to say it’s turning into a mega-category, and as you get that big, what we find is consumers seek variety.”
Salty snacks with a twist
Conagra also is expanding its partnership with fast-food giant Taco Bell, with plans to release its Taco Bell Fire Sauce-flavored Bigs Sunflower Seeds in late November. The flavored seeds follow the popularity of its Bigs Taco Bell Taco Supreme Sunflower Seeds, released in 2018.
“Bold and spicy flavors are really important in snacking,” said Sasha Gasparian, senior brand manager at Conagra, adding that Bigs is the company’s most popular flavored seed brand.
Conagra’s flagship seed brand, David Seeds, also released Cinnamon Churro Jumbo Sunflower Seeds in April. “Alongside spicy, sweet profiles are also a large and growing space, especially cinnamon within snacking,” she said.
Conagra said in its Future of Snacking report that “nostalgia snacking” is on the rise with time-tested flavors like churro and other classic desserts.
“Having these as approachable flavor profiles, or flavor profiles for snackable, approachable formats, is huge,” said Megan Bullock, director of demand science at Conagra, in early September.
Pickle fever
Conagra’s Vlasic Pickle Balls showcased the “huge moment” for pickle-flavored products, a claim made by the company in September.
The original pickle-flavored corn puffs were released last year, and in November, Conagra is adding a spicy variety. Conagra is also leveraging the popularity of pickleball the game, with its mascot, the Vlasic stork, holding a pickleball paddle.
“The cultural relevance of the sport, pickleball, is really growing, so it’s just kind of a fun take on that,” said Gasparian.
Bullock said in September that the pickle craze is being driven by Millennial and Gen Z consumers looking for bold flavors.
“A lot of this is being driven by food service, I think,” she said. “Popeyes has a full pickle-flavor menu – pickle lemonade, pickle slushies – so it’s more than just getting your pickles to snack on. It’s about that tangy, spicy, adventurous flavor profile.”
