Some of us might remember how, when we were kids, we’d come home from school, drop our books and start foraging in the kitchen for Oreos and milk, Pop Tarts, peanut butter and crackers — whatever we could find to tide us over until supper.

Then we grew up. But we still craved the mid-afternoon bite that fueled us through the work day. We stuffed our desk drawers with caches of Snickers bars, sandwich crackers and Pop Tarts. We also started grown-up habits like bar-hopping and midnight movie-watching, which required late-night snacks such as frozen pizza rolls and Hot Pockets, supplemented by the occasional 2 a.m. jelly Bismark run.

Eventually, fast food chains began to figure out what every prepared food company and college town donut shop already knew: We no longer had three meal dayparts, we had five. What’s more, dieticians were endorsing the idea (although they likely would not give their stamp of approval to most of our usual food group choices).

Wendy’s seemed to be the first big chain to recognize an extra daypart in an official way, with their "eat great, even late" campaign, launched in 1997. But it took another decade for the majors to figure out that not every snacker wanted a combo meal — or even meal components such as fries or a shake.

It might have been the ascent of 4th daypart specialists such as Panera Bread, with their flavored frappuccinos and broad bakery cases; or perhaps it was convenience stores with their growing inventory of not only chips and cookies but also taquitos, bakery goods and yogurt parfaits.

Whatever it was, something turned QSRs onto the proposition that what consumers wanted to snack on might be … snacks. Once that train pulled into the station, the QSR snack wars were on. McDonald’s launched Snack Wraps, while KFC intro’d Snackers and Burger King came up with Burger Shots aimed at bar-hopping 20-somethings.

Chains contemplating a leap into fray with their own snack offerings would be wise to first weigh the opportunity of snack sales against their own brand maintenance needs.

First, chains must understand that the snack market isn’t a no-brainer to crack. Ninety percent of snack foods are purchased at least one day before consumption, says a 2007 study by the NPD group. QSRs have to figure out how to move (sober) diners to an immediate purchase-and-consumption model.

Snack market entrants also must position themselves against C-Stores, which are making a power play for the snack market, touting in-and-out speed and a widening array of non-packaged foods.

The chain that successfully takes on the snack challenge will create "snack destination" perception among customers. This means not just growing the brand but broadening its meaning. And it requires dedicating significant resources to marketing and communicating the change.

Secondly, the American public is receiving an increasing number of messages — from consumer watch groups, government health agencies, medical associations and others — urging them to fight obesity and disease with a healthy diet and lifestyle. This presents both an opportunity and a problem to chains that want to introduce snack products.

The opportunity is to position snack products as down-sized replacement meals and introduce new, healthy options — apple slices and yogurt cups are just a start. The problem is to develop creative, brand-appropriate snack items that meet salt, calorie, fat, freshness, fiber and other nutritional guidelines … while still offering what consumers demand in their QSR choices — great taste.

QSRs must also figure out how to position and promote new snack options in a way that is consistent with their brand.

Sonic offers a 2 p.m.-4 p.m. happy hour with specially priced drinks. This approach fits ideally with the chain’s specialty drink focus and plays effectively on a familiar discount drink concept. That won’t work for every chain.

Chains known for premium products — such as a Carl's Jr. — must also be sensitive to the possible perception of snack products as value items. Here, special care has to be given to creating snacks that are clearly an extension of premium product lines with superior ingredients and fair, but not rock-bottom, prices.

There are other challenges, of course, but these some that chains should chew on first as they gauge their appetite for adding snacks to their product mix.

Related Content

• 
  QSRs display strong global brand power
• 
  Popeyes lifted by national marketing, promotional …
• 
  Menu spotlight shifts to chicken as beef prices …

• Get help from all our vendors with one click.