Food brands turn to promotions to drive sales of candy, snacks and other non-essentials as shoppers tighten their wallets

Executives at emerging brands that face an uphill battle competing with national brands and private label counterparts are especially aware of this budget-conscious behavior. This year, they told Modern Retail, they’re planning their on-shelf promotional calendars to better cater to these shoppers. 

Market research company NielsenIQ’s February 2025 grocery survey showed that a whopping 42% of surveyed shoppers are snacking less than in the previous year. Meanwhile, 37% are looking for deals on snacks, said Chris Costagli, vp of food insights at NielsenIQ.

“We know that about 52% of consumers are looking for deals more often,” Costagli said. “Forty-four percent say they’re really cutting back on non-essentials, and you’ll see that snacks fall into that space.”

Nice-to-have items like chocolate and candy are also being hit by the decline of last-minute buys. “We’re seeing consumers pulling back on impulse purchasing, so they’re sticking a lot closer to their shopping list and trying not to deviate from it,” he said.

Another interesting trend, Costagli said, is 19% of February’s respondents saying they’re making more of their own snacks at home, which is also in line with meal prep trends. “Rather than going to the store and buying packaged snack options, for example, they’re buying nuts in bulk and portioning those out into individual snacking sizes,” Costagli said.

But this behavior could shift further, depending on how economic conditions change this year. According to InMarket’s 2025 Grocery Staples Report, shoppers’ habits are especially shifting across categories due to inflation and concerns over tariffs.

“Consumers have shifted to purchasing more items at a discount, especially within more nice-to-have categories,” Michael Della Penna, chief strategy officer at InMarket said. The report from InMarket, which is a retail data measurement platform, shows that purchases of frozen novelties or ice cream at a discount increased by 42% between January and December 2024. Meanwhile, in the cookie category, the share of spend on private labels increased by 30% compared to 2023.

In addition to jumping between brands and categories based on weekly sales, Della Penna said that, “consumers are also changing where they’re shopping.” For example, InMarket’s data shows club stores and dollar stores are seeing a rise in purchases for coffee, candy, and dairy, among others. “We’re finding that a greater percentage of those sales are happening on sale,” Della Penna said. “People love those treats, but they’re not going to buy them at full price when stretching that dollar.”

As a result, executives at brands in discretionary snack categories are taking note of this shopping behavior and planning promotional runs accordingly. 

Cookie brand Fancypants Baking Co. is new to a number of grocery chains, so it plans to promote aggressively in these retailers throughout 2025.

The brand launched at The Fresh Market in February, followed by Costco Northeast in March and Harris Teeter this month. Later this month, Fancypants will launch in Whole Foods’ mid-Atlantic region. 

“Part of our strategy has been, and will continue, to be really competitive on promos and discounts anyway,” Fancypants founder and CEO Maura Duggan said. “We are an indulgent product and we’re new, and I feel like this strategy has been successful in driving trials.”

As such, the brand is planning to do heavier promotions in the coming months than in 2024. 

This month, Central Market is promoting the brand’s spring flavors, strawberry shortcake and lemon tart, as part of its Easter and Mother’s Day push. Fancypants regularly runs a Foodie Freebie promo at Central Market, in which a customer buys one of its products and gets a free item from another brand, or vice versa. With the Whole Foods expansion this month, the brand is marking down the cost of its 5-ounce bags — which contain approximately 20 cookies — from $5.99 to $3.99. 

Duggan said the company is also doing a lot of demos and samples, as well as advertising and coupon offers through Instacart. “We’ve also been experimenting with the platform Aisle, doing some free and BOGO deals,” she said.

To offset the aggressive discounting in grocery, Duggan said, “Part of our strategy is to be really diverse in who we work with.” For example, it’s selling in small gift shops and specialty stores whose customers don’t expect big sales. “We’re also working with more airports and resort gift shops, where people tend to spend more because they’re traveling or on vacation.”

Clio snacks, which makes refrigerated Greek yogurt bars dipped in chocolate, is taking a similar approach with its promotional discounts across different retail channels. The company has been expanding its food service business rapidly, entering college campuses to reach Gen Z over the past year.

As of the end of 2024, the brand is available in 28,000 retail locations across the U.S. including Target, Walmart and Sprouts. These types of chains are where the majority of Clio’s promotional dollars go to drive awareness. 

Clio CEO John McGuckin told Modern Retail the brand is being cognizant of customers’ budgets through a strategic cadence. “We have a promotional trade program that we manage internally,” McGuckin explained. The business’s goal, he said, is to generate 80% of sales from recurring business at full price. Meanwhile, the other 20% comes from casual, incremental sales that come from “meaningful promotions” that can drive conversations long term.

Duggan, for her part, is also seeing signs that retailers are increasingly aware how important these promos are to drive grocery sales in this environment. She added that grocery partners are increasingly reaching out to collaborate on social campaigns highlighting Fancypants promos at their stores.

“Usually it’s the other way around,” she said. “I think it’s all about keeping customers’ attention right now.”