BIG INTERVIEW
STUART GRAHAM
84 ASIAN TRADER 17 OCTOBER 2025
store typically sells across a snacks range. And
if you are going to sell 50, what should be the
right 50? What’s the role of core and NPD
within that?”
What’s different this year is the introduc
tion of an Excite & Engage guide, which is not
just about the right products, but how to
merchandise them and how to activate the
category effectively, “so that we talk about
location, merchandising, fixture, layout,
promotions, etc.”
Excite and Engage is based around three
simple, actionable steps: choosing the right
brands and promotions, maximising visibility
and amplifying in-store. It shows how added
value and visibility can boost impact and
sales. It states that with 73 per cent of
shoppers buying snacks with value for money
in mind, and nearly half (47 per cent)
influenced by promotions and discounts,
stocking the right brands with compelling
on-pack offers can still significantly boost
sales.
It also points out the continued relevance
of PMPs in c-stores (see the feature in this
issue), with 62 per cent of retailers saying that
PMPs increase sales, and with PMPs account
ing for the top ten best-selling SKUs.
“Helping retailers to understand the right
products to sell, how to lay them out and
giving them good, simple advice on an
important category is where 25 to Thrive and
Excite and Engage comes into its own in
explaining how to make an important
category work as effectively as possible, while
keeping it simple.”
I ask whether all this helps retailers to also
keep abreast of the tsunami of regulations
and legislation the government is pouring out
over the retail sector.
“I guess the big one in that for us has
been non-HFSS, which is
obviously the legislation
kicking in now around healthy
snacking and Better For You,”
says Stuart. “popchips is quite a
beacon brand for us in our portfo
lio around non-HFSS and we’ve
seen reformulation in other
categories. It’s obviously a big
focus for us. We’re really clear that
we produce great tasting snacks,
and that will remain the case, but
we’ve got commitments to ensure 55 per cent
of our portfolio is non-HFSS compliant, or less
than 100 calories by 2030. That’s the journey
we’re on.”
Tie-ins and trends
The other journey concerns the varied
selection of tie-ups, partnerships and
sponsorships that KP has undertaken – im
portantly on a brand-by brand basis rather
than on a company-level. The partnership
with the England and Wales Cricket Board
helps get all-weather pitches for youngsters
commissioned across the
country Under the “Everyone
In” banner. The Hundred
sponsorship has been a
phenomenally successful
branding for KP of a top-line
sporting competition. Darts
champion Luke Littler has
just joined as a figurehead for
KP Nuts, and Butterkist has
its movie tie-in with Wicked
– what was the thinking
there?
“It’s about the synergy
with movies,” replies Stuart,
“and big nights in and darker
evenings and so on. There’s a
natural affinity between popcorn and movies.
Wicked was certainly bigger than I expected,
one of the success stories of last year. We were
delighted. Part two is coming soon, and
there’s going to be big on-pack features across
the Butterkist PMP range in convenience.
There’ll be opportunities to win a trip to the
northern lights and a whole raft of other
prizes as well. We’re using that license to
really bring news and excitement to the core
Butterkist portfolio. So that’ll be big. “
Earlier this year KP Snacks ran a “Bank of
McCoy’s” on-pack promotion,
featuring massive cash and stock
prizes for both consumers and
retailers across McCoy’s PMP and
Grab Bag formats, with a £100k
prize vault and instant cash wins
of up to £1,000, plus free crisps.
It was another great success and
fitted in perfectly with the
consumer trend toward spicy
flavours that McCoy’s
champions.
“Hot spices have definitely emerged,”
says Stuart: in fact, McCoy’s Hot ‘n’ Spicy has
generated nearly £1.5m RSV in just six
months, and “Spicy” is a dominant flavour
profile, representing the second fastest-grow
ing in the category.
“If you go back maybe 10 years, we always
would have talked about top three flavours,
Ready Salted, Cheese and Onion and Salt and
Vinegar. I don’t think Salt and Vinegar is in
there now. It’s still a big flavour, but hot and
spicy has come to the fore, alongside cheesy
and dairy flavours. Beef is where KP does
really well, for example with McCoy’s Flame
Grilled Steak and Hula Hoops
Barbecue Beef as well.
A big smoky, meaty meal
in a bag?
“That’s the flavouring
profile we excel in. It’s
certainly my go-to.”
The nights are drawing in,
clocks going back, so I ask
what are the plans for
autumn and Christmas and
to take advantage of the
upcoming season?
“Yes,” Stuart smiles. “BNI,
sharing and then Christmas.
I guess one of the benefits for
us of the portfolio of brands
and products we’ve got is we do play in that
space. For both of those times of year and
occasions, we talk about popcorn, nuts,
pretzels and sharing, basically, and so from a
c-channel perspective, we’ve got a huge
convenience-specific campaign. We’re
partnering with Luke Littler, the darts
champion, with a Win £180 every 180
minutes on-pack coming across our PMP nuts
range. So that’s landing very well and is
starting to be activated in wholesale depots,
and will be in stores really soon.
KP has also just gone live with an NFL
partnership as well, and then there was Tom
Grennan for popchips, which gives KP
presence at musical events such as the
Latitude Festival and The Isle of Wight
Festival.
“We are supporting the individual brands
rather than the parent company, and that’s
why we’ve got the volume of partnerships we
do,” Stuart explains, and it’s a brilliant way to
segment the market and grow sales for each.
So KP and convenience are good for each
other?
“We take the channel really seriously.
We’ve got a team of people who are super
experienced, who remain passionate and
ambitious with really strong relationships,”
says Stuart. “When I first joined the job, a
wholesaler said to me, ‘You know, we work
with a lot of suppliers who tend to put their
younger grads into this channel. It’s the place
where they get bit of learning and get to carry
the bag and own an account. Whereas with
KP, you’ve got a team that really gets this
channel.’”
Onward with snacks, then!
“I think Snacks has been on a pretty
consistent run of growth over a long period,”
he concludes. “It continues to grow and
outperform other impulse categories, has
shown its resilience through a sustained
period of challenges with covid and cost of
living and so on, and is outperforming the
market. But it’s also true that, as we seem to
say every year, it’s not getting any easier.”
As Stuart says, these days you’ve got to be
great to be good.
Snacks has
been on a pretty
consistent run of
growth over a long
period