Snack Food Manufacturers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 590 snack food manufacturers in the US produce a variety of salty snacks, including nuts, chips, popcorn, pretzels, peanut butter, and other grain or seed-based snack foods. Related product categories include dried and dehydrated foods and confectionary products. The industry does not include crackers or cookies.
Large Firms Dominate
The snack food industry is highly concentrated; the 50 largest companies account for 86% of revenue, and the top four companies account for 50%.
Health Concerns
The nutritional content of traditional salty snacks, such as chips and pretzels, has come under public scrutiny due to the connections between processed foods and the rising incidence of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Industry size & Structure
The average snack food manufacturer employs 110 workers and generates $68 million annually.
- The snack food manufacturing industry comprises about 590 firms that employ 65,100 workers and generate $40.4 billion annually.
- The industry is highly concentrated; the top 50 companies account for 86% of industry revenue.
- The biggest firms with snack food manufacturing operations are multinational companies with large portfolios of food and beverage products and include Pepsico (Frito-Lay), Hormel (Planters, Corn Nuts, Skippy), and Campbell Soup (Snyder’s-Lance, Emerald).
- Roasted nut and peanut butter manufacturers account for 41% of firms and 39% of industry revenue.
- Other snack food manufacturers account for 59% of firms and 61% of revenue.
Industry Forecast
Snack Food Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Mar 30, 2025 - Changing Consumer Behavior Transforming Snacking
- A growing emphasis on health and wellness among consumers is transforming the snacking industry, according to the Food & Flavour Outlook 2025 by food ingredient maker Griffith Foods. Consumers today are looking for snacks that do more than just taste good and satisfy hunger. Instead, they’re shopping for functional snacks that offer health benefits, leading to a rise in so-called functional snacking, with ingredients intended to enhance mental clarity, boost immunity, or improve digestion. Examples include gut-friendly snacks like granola bars infused with probiotics, fermented vegetable chips, and yogurt-covered nuts, and collagen-boosting treats, according to Griffith Foods. As a result, start-up companies and major players like Mondelez and Nestlé are investing heavily in functional snack innovation. A report from The Business Research Company predicts that the global functional food market will reach $315 billion by 2025.
- The FDA in January banned Red Dye No 3 – an artificial dye linked to cancer in animals – from food following increasing scrutiny of artificial colors and other food additives and ingredients, The Wall Street Journal reports. The dye is most commonly used in baked goods, extracts and fillings, representing about 43% of products that contain it, according to a WSJ analysis of a USDA database. According to USDA data, candy, chocolate, chewing gum and mints represent 37% of products containing Red 3, while snacks and cereals make up about 7%. The federal ban followed a recent California law banning Red Dye No. 3 from foods sold in the state. Red 3 is already banned in most products in Europe and was banned from cosmetics in the US in 1990. The federal and California bans are set to take effect in 2027.
- President Trump’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – Robert F Kennedy Jr – signals a shakeup for producers of packaged snacks and, more broadly, the entire US food industry, Bakery & Snacks reports. Kennedy’s agenda for improving American diets targets ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which typically contain artificial additives such as food dyes and preservatives that are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, over which HHS has broad authority. Bakeries & Snacks notes that shares of Kraft Heinz and Conagra – both big makers of packaged snacks – declined following RFK’s nomination amid concerns of possible sugar taxes and reformulation mandates. Indeed, RKS’s targeting of UPFs puts him in direct conflict with the major packaged foods companies (aka ‘Big Food’), which generate a significant percentage of their revenues from ultra-processed foods. Kennedy is also bent on driving greater transparency in food production, particularly in ingredient use and labelling.
- Employment by snack food manufacturers shrank 1.1% in January compared to a year ago while average industry wages rose 3.6% year over year in February to $23.87 per hour, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Wages at food manufacturers have been rising relatively steeply and steadily since 2021 as the industry and broader manufacturing sector have struggled to hire and retain workers. Producer prices for snack food makers reached a record high at the end of 2024 on rising input cost inflation, including energy, labor, and ingredients such as cocoa. Sales for the US snack food manufacturers industry are forecast to grow at a 3.14% compounded annual rate from 2025 to 2029, slower than the growth of the overall economy, according to the latest projections from the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.
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