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Super Bowl Snacks

Cheese sticks, tortilla chips, chocolate chip cookies and craft beers are some of the must-have items for these retailers.

By Nicole Potenza Denis

Claudia Carter, Foragers Market, Brooklyn, NY

Customers are mixed on whether or not they want healthier or organic snacks, especially for a party, but they will look for more organic or healthier salsas. Good for a Super Bowl party are:

The Brooklyn Salsa Company
The Bronx - The Curry
Martin’s Pretzels
Tate’s Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies
Wicked Good Potato Chips
Xochitl Cajun Tortilla Chips

Diane Dean and Danny Denzer, Epicure Market, Miami, FL

Customers like reasonably priced refrigerated salsas for their fresh-made appeal. Snack mixes and flavored nuts that are spicy and ethnic are also great for game time. Picks include:

Garden Fresh Gourmet Guacamole
Garden Fresh Gourmet Corn Chips
Frontera Lime + Sea Salt Tortilla Chips
Santa Barbara Pistachio Company’s Chile
Lemon Pistachios
Urban Farms’ Spicy Szechuan Mix

Janet Ostrow, Premier Gourmet, Kenmore, NY

cassava root chips
Salty snacks are always a hit when watching a football game. We’re having fun with many of the new chips—like cassava or lentil—but, they haven’t developed a large following yet. Selections include:

East Shore Food’s Dipping Pretzels
Green Mountain Gringo Tortilla Chips
Joseph Banks Cassava Chips
Society Hill Flax Chips
Sunbird Buffalo Wing Nuts

Ron Lewis, Jr., Maxwell’s Market, Baton Rouge, LA

We like pita chips that are great with hummus. Salsas and spicy compotes can accompany a cheese board for game day. My picks are:

D.L. Jardine’s Cilantro Lime Salsa
Forever Herbs Berries & Jalapeño Compote
J&M Jalapeño Cheese Straws
Stacy’s Pita Chips
Zapp’s Voodoo Gumbo Chips

Cross-Merchandising Craft Beer

“We are seeing shoppers trending towards higher alcohol content and more distinct flavors that are brewed locally. Customers realize it is no longer just Budweiser and Miller; they are getting into the minutiae of finer beers. Flavor is subjective, of course. Some like fruity peach brews like seasonal Dogfish Head Festina Peche, others seek more hoppy flavors like Tuppers’ Hop Pocket Ale from Tuppers’ Brewery. Many of our customers who went to the University of Virginia look for beers that they had during college like Spring Buck Blond Ale with 7.8 percent alcohol content from The Old Dominion Brewery in Dover, Del.

—Andrew Dean, Fern St. Gourmet, Alexandria, VA

Nicole Potenza Denis is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine