BIG INTERVIEW
STUART GRAHAM
17 OCTOBER 2025 ASIAN TRADER 83
different routes to market, and so they act as a
really good cohort for us to understand their
world,” he says. “I think it keeps us real. It’s
easy to be excited by a marketing plan on a
PowerPoint, but then looking at how that
works across the broader and often small
store environments is vital.”
Partly because of the knowledge gained at
the regular meetings – which Asian Trader
was sometimes privileged to attend – in 2023
KP Snacks produced its “25 to Thrive” ranging
advice, which proved to be extremely
successful in practical terms. By
mid-2024, three retailers they had
followed reported a marked uplift in
their Bagged Snacks sales, with an
average growth of +15.3 per cent – out
stripping those “elusive” ten per cent
spikes mentioned earlier.
“We’ve just refreshed 25 to Thrive,”
adds Stuart. “We’re very clear that it has
to be category focussed and brand
agnostic. This time around we’ve looked
at 50 products, which is what an average
first started working in snacks.
“In fact,” he continues, “I’ve worked in
impulse categories most of my career: soft
drinks, ‘confect’, biscuits, and crisps and
snacks. I’ve worked in different channels
with different customers. I’ve worked in
Category Management, shopper marketing,
revenue management and so on.”
Stuart says that joining KP
Snacks was almost like coming
home: “I joined a year ago, and
it’s been like a reunion in many
respects. A lot of the faces are the
same, even people I’ve not seen
for five or 10 years have been so
welcoming.”
The industry is different to
what it was a decade ago, Stuart
believes – we are back to the notion
of having to be great these days just
to be good – running just to stand
still, like the Red Queen’s race in Lewis
Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass.
“The world has changed, but a lot of things
haven’t,” he says. “The role of relationships
and the complexity of the channel are still
quite difficult. I think having that experience
and knowledge with businesses in different
categories has been really helpful. It doesn’t
get any easier. It doesn’t get any slower, that’s
for sure. But it’s been great to join KP.
“It’s always a good barometer when you
speak to friends and family, and they say,
‘What are you doing now, Stu?’ ‘Working for
KP.’ ‘Oh, the nuts!’ And I say, well, it’s more
than just nuts. ‘Oh, what else do you do?’ So,
you go through the portfolio, and they come
alive because you start talking
about products that they love to
eat – and eat regularly. We’ll talk
about happy snacking moments. I
think that’s what we talk about,
that’s our purpose: to create and
elevate those occasions, whether
it’s on your own, together or out
and about.”
At your convenience
About Matt Collins and his
guidance, Stuart is very
complimentary: “I think working
with and for a sales director that really knows
this channel, really cares about it and puts it at
the front of his plans and the business’s plans,
helps a lot. And I think as a business,
obviously, [convenience and impulse] is a
channel that we take incredibly seriously.
We over index here. I think it’s where
we’re at our best and our strongest.”
He says C&I plays a hugely important
role in KP Snacks’ business and that they
over-index in the channel with a 24.6 per
cent MAT share in Impulse, growing four
per cent ahead of Total Convenience.
“Snacks is a massive category,
generally, penetration is 98 per cent to 99
per cent” – almost unbelievable figures,
except that they are true. Hula Hoops is the
fourth biggest brand in Impulse, with 98 per
cent penetration, for example.
So, is there a “special relationship”
between KP and indies that is cemented by
the nature of the channel – the treats temple
on the street corner the mults cannot
compete with when the impulse
to snack strikes?
“Almost everybody eats snacks
more than once a week,” says
Stuart. “They’re eaten and
enjoyed by almost everyone, very
often, and they’re impulsive and a
tasty treat for people. When
they’re on that store mission to
the local store, whether it is
paying a bill, buying a newspa
per, buying a lottery ticket,
then it’s an impulse purchase
that somebody wants to enjoy as a treat in
that moment. It plays a big role and is very
important to the c-channel, both in terms of
sales and margin,”
He says the role KP can play is huge,
because of its very broad and very well-estab
lished range of brands and products that play
across many different occasions. “Where
we’re at our best,” he says, “is when people are
buying the product that they want to eat, that
they’re buying for themselves to consume
right now.”
Part of the strategy to keep KP at the
cutting edge of snacks was its implementa
tion of one of the first retailer panels – KP
SnacKPartners – where certain successful,
well-known and sagacious indie figures were
invited to join a consulta
tion team to liaise with KP
on all sorts of matters, in
order for the company to
keep an ear to the ground on
what was happening in the
channel, and to stay on top of
developments and trends, thus
front-running innovation.
“We all talk about cases, packs,
competitions, flavours, merchan
dising, and what’s going on in the
trade. There are 55,000 retailers
out there and we’ve got a panel
that are based in different geographies with
different types of stores and different fascias,
Thriving and snacking
Being brand agnostic works
wonders for bagged snack sales,
says KP Snacks
What is the “25 to Thrive” Guide?
Core Range: It recommends a selection
of 25 key products from KP Snacks’
brands (such as Hula Hoops, McCoy’s,
and KP Nuts) and others to create a
balanced and appealing snack range.
For Retailers: The guide is specifically
designed for independent retailers to
simplify ranging and boost sales in the
CSNP category.
Insight-Led Advice: It uses market
insights, including data on shopper
missions, value, and popular brands, to
identify the most relevant products for
different stores and locations.
Key Principles of “25 to Thrive”
Simplicity: The guide aims to provide a
straightforward and easy-to-follow
approach to ranging, helping retailers
manage their stock effectively.
Top Sellers: It focuses on including the
top-selling products to satisfy customer
demand and drive sales.
Value and Promotions: The guide
emphasizes the importance of stocking
price-marked packs (PMPs) and
engaging in promotions to meet the
needs of value-conscious consumers.
Category Management: It offers advice
on merchandising, display, and off-
fixture opportunities to capture impulse
buys and maximize impact in store.
We are supporting
individual brands rather
than the parent
company and that’s why
we’ve got the volume of
partnerships we do