From Our Print Edition

Tens of millions of Americans receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits every year. The program reduces poverty and food insecurity rates and contributes to local economies where benefits are redeemed. New research shows the importance of SNAP participants to food retailers and explores how stores can more effectively connect with these value-focused shoppers.

SNAP STATS

Chicago-based market research firm Circana finds that 64% of SNAP households have annual incomes below $35,000. These households index higher than non-SNAP households for children in the newborn to six-, seven to 12-, and 13 to 15-year-old segments.

A tightening of SNAP eligibility requirements, which were expanded in response to the pandemic, reduced the number of households receiving benefits 1.7% from fiscal 2023 to 2024. Even so, 41.5 million recipients collected SNAP benefits at some point during the past year.

SNAP recipients shop more frequently than non-SNAP customers, giving food stores more opportunities to influence their purchases.

The research shows that most program participants have children or elderly adults in their homes. SNAP beneficiaries make more frequent visits to stores than non-SNAP shoppers, but they buy fewer items and spend less overall per shop.

It’s important for retailers to understand that the SNAP population is in flux, says DJ Joyner, thought leadership consultant, consumer & shopper insights, for Circana. “The program, at its core, is really designed to be a short-term safety net that helps the household navigate its way to self-sufficiency,” he explains. “By design, most SNAP households are qualifying for benefits only temporarily, maybe while they are between jobs or during some other hardship. For example, households with children are limited to six months of benefits before they have to reapply for the program. And for healthy adults without children, that duration is even shorter, just three months.”

VALUABLE SHOPPERS

Speaking on a recent webinar, Joyner and Sally Lyons Wyatt, Circana executive vp and chief advisor, consumer goods and foodservice insights, focused on the shopping habits of SNAP consumers and the sales opportunities they represent for retailers and their brand partners.

Lyons Wyatt recounted growing up on “food stamps” and SNAP shoppers’ focus on stretching their grocery budgets paid through their EBT (electronic benefit transfer) cards and private funds from employment earnings.

SNAP recipients shop across departments, and their frequent trips to stores — 38% more for consumer packaged goods (CPG) than non-SNAP shoppers — offer continuing opportunities to drive purchases. Lyons Wyatt says that brands should include a focus on SNAP consumers as part of their joint business planning strategies with retailers.

SNAP shoppers represent 22% of all CPG share across retail channels with dollar, mass and convenience stores over-indexing. These shoppers spend more than non-SNAP consumers in these channels and posted year-over-year share gains.

‘[Are you] messaging heat and eat? Are you talking about speed-to-table? Are you talking about convenience?’

Convenience is a big selling point for SNAP beneficiaries as evidenced by their affinity for heat-and-eat items. Because the program doesn’t include heat-and-eat deli items, SNAP shoppers must pay for these purchases with private funds. Even so, this trend provides an opening for retailers to drive sales of frozen items that perform the same function.

“I think it really is an opportunity to start thinking about…your messaging. [Are you] messaging heat and eat? Are you talking about speed-to-table? Are you talking about convenience? If you’re hitting all three of those, great! If not, please consider that as you move forward,” advises Lyons Wyatt.