The SUPERVALU® Inaugural Snack Down Survey Finds Football Fans Don’t Feel Guilty About What They Eat

Football fans’ playbooks call for spending about the same or even more on NFL playoff or Super Bowl game-day snacks as previous years

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nearly 90 percent of American football fans say they “never” or only “sometimes” feel guilty about what they eat when watching football games, yet 81 percent admit to eating “none” or just “a few” healthy or better-for-you foods during a game, according to the SUPERVALU^® inaugural Snack Down Survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation. SUPERVALU, whose family of grocery stores includes Acme^®, Albertsons^®, bigg’s^®, Cub Foods^®, Farm Fresh^®, Hornbacher’s^®, Jewel-Osco^®, Shaw’s/Star Market™, Shop ‘n Save^®, and Shoppers Food & Pharmacy^®, created the survey to determine football fans’ game-day snacking habits, and their plans for the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl this year.

“It’s clear from the survey that casual, portable foods are the name of the game for American football fans”

The survey shows that chips or other salty snacks, such as peanuts, popcorn and pretzels, are hands down the favorite game-day snacking items among American football fans.

While 89 percent of fans surveyed plan to watch one or more of the NFL playoff games or Super Bowl in the comfort of their own homes this year, the recession hasn’t changed Americans’ habits with respect to how much money they intend to spend on football game parties. About 78 percent of gridiron fans plan to spend about the same amount as previous years, with 12 percent saying they will spend more.

“It’s clear from the survey that casual, portable foods are the name of the game for American football fans,” said Ed Dobbles, SUPERVALU vice president of research and analytics. “With many Americans planning to enjoy the NFL playoff games and Super Bowl at home this year, we recognize that shoppers will be looking for some simple ideas to round out their game-day party menus.”

Supermarkets top the list of preferred locations where Americans (87 percent) go to buy their snacks, foods and ingredients for football game parties. This is followed by discount stores, mass merchants or warehouse clubs (54 percent); restaurants, caterers, gourmet food stores or delicatessens (12 percent); and convenience stores (12 percent).

Snack traditions vary by market

To help meet its customers’ needs, the SUPERVALU Snack Down Survey also took a closer look at the snacking habits of people living in markets where its family of stores are located, including Baltimore/Washington, D.C.; Boise, Idaho; Boston; Chicago; Cincinnati; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Orange County/Los Angeles; Philadelphia; St. Louis; and San Diego.

Nearly 40 percent of fans surveyed say they have a special food or snack tradition associated with their favorite NFL or college football team. Some of the snack traditions cited by fans include:

• In Philadelphia, football fans named Philly cheese steaks as their top game-day snack tradition.
• Chicago-style hot dogs and Chicago deep dish pizza were among the special snack traditions cited by Chicago gridiron fans.
• In Boston, New England clam chowder and Boston baked beans made area fans’ list of snack traditions.
• Skyline or Cincinnati-style chili was called out by Cincinnati fans as a quintessential game-day snack food.

The survey also asked fans to identify some of the more unusual items they have tried while watching football games. Among the unusual fare cited by fans were alligator kabobs, chocolate-covered grasshoppers, pickled pig’s feet, rabbit tacos, ostrich burgers, sea urchins and Rocky Mountain oysters.

Other local market survey findings

• Baltimore/Washington, D.C.: Chicken wings tied with chips or other salty snacks as the No. 1 game-day snack among football fans in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Baltimore fans listed crab among their special snack traditions.
• Boise: Idaho potatoes — baked and loaded — made Boise fans’ list of special football game-day snack traditions.
• Boston: About 38 percent of male football fans in Boston plan to watch one or more of the NFL playoff games or Super Bowl at a bar or restaurant this year, compared with only 14 percent of Boston women. Male gridiron fans in Boston believe they consume more calories at a Super Bowl party (24 percent) than at a Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa celebration (17 percent).
• Chicago: In Chicago, pizza and chicken wings beat out chips or other salty snacks as favorite game-day foods. One of the more creative “unusual” items consumed by a Chicago football fan was hard-boiled eggs dyed brown to look like little footballs then painted with white icing to make the laces. Another Chicago fan has a tradition of serving a dish related to the opposing team (e.g., Ben Roethlis”burgers,” Favre’s Jambalaya).
• Cincinnati: In Cincinnati, football game parties are a time when some local fans enjoy a little “Hanky Panky,” which is a sandwich made with a mixture of sausage, cheese and a touch of Worchestershire sauce served on rye toast.
• Minneapolis/St. Paul: In the Twin Cities, football fans list cheese, cheese dips, cheese logs and cheese balls as traditional staples of their game-day viewing parties.
• Orange County/Los Angeles: Among the local markets surveyed, football fans in Orange County and Los Angeles spend the most money on their football game parties, with nearly 20 percent estimating they spend between $101 and $500, and 52 percent saying they spend between $50 and $100. Orange County and Los Angeles gridiron fans also are more likely than fans in other markets across the country to enjoy the NFL playoffs or the Super Bowl at a bar or restaurant this year.
• Philadelphia: Chicken wings, and dips and spreads for use with chips, crackers or veggies were tied as Philadelphia fans’ favorite game-day snacks.
• St. Louis: When asked to name the most unusual snack they’ve ever eaten or served when watching a football game or attending a game-day party, some fans in St. Louis noted that anything healthy would definitely be on their list of unusual items eaten or served during a football game. The St. Louis Rams topped the list of favorite NFL teams, beating out the second place team — the Arizona (former St. Louis) Cardinals — by a wide margin.
• San Diego: San Diego football fans called out Mexican fare, such as nachos, quesadillas, tamales, tacos and enchiladas, as favorite game-day snack traditions.

A few Super Bowl facts and stats

• According to the American Institute of Food Distribution, Super Bowl Sunday is the second-biggest food consumption day of the year, after Thanksgiving.
• It’s estimated that Americans ate more than 30 million pounds of snacks on Super Bowl game day last year — double their average daily snack consumption.
• The average armchair quarterback will consume nearly 1,200 calories and 50 grams of fat from snacks alone — not counting meals. To burn that off, you’d have to run an hour and 45 minutes.
• According to the Nielsen Company, Super Bowl Sunday is the most important snack purchasing day of the year, followed by the day before the big game. Among snacks, potato chips enjoyed the largest dollar and volume sales during the Super Bowl period last year. Tortilla chips, however, had the largest incremental dollar sales gains, while dip mixes and canned dips saw the biggest percentage increases in sales.

Some simple tips for football game parties

To help consumers plan for their football game parties, SUPERVALU offers the following tips:

• Have a “game plan” ready that includes a variety of easy-to-prepare foods
• Keep the menu simple and make items ahead of time so you can enjoy the action with family and friends
• Focus on recipes you know
• Think about serving traditional favorites associated with your favorite team or the teams in the Super Bowl
• Add fresh fruits and vegetables to provide some healthier options
• Consider trimming a little fat and calories from your snacks and desserts by making a few easy ingredient substitutions
• Plan on plenty of beverages

About SUPERVALU INC.

SUPERVALU INC. is one of the largest companies in the U.S. grocery channel with estimated annual sales of $41 billion. SUPERVALU serves customers across the United States through a network of approximately 4,300 stores composed of approximately 1,200 traditional and premium stores, including 850 in-store pharmacies; 1,180 hard discount Save-A-Lot stores, of which 860 are operated by licensee owners; and 1,920 independent stores serviced primarily by the company's traditional food distribution business. SUPERVALU has approximately 170,000 employees. For more information about SUPERVALU, visit www.supervalu.com.

Editor’s note: SUPERVALU created the Snack Down Survey to better understand football game-day snacking habits and to identify the most popular snacks and foods Americans serve and eat while watching professional and college football games. The survey was conducted by telephone among a national probability sample of 1,014 adults, comprising 506 men and 508 women 18 years of age and older living in the continental United States, as part of Opinion Research Corporation’s CARAVAN® Survey that was completed during the period Dec. 3-6, 2009.

SUPERVALU also conducted online surveys in 10 markets—Baltimore/Washington, D.C.; Boise, Idaho; Boston; Chicago; Cincinnati; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Orange County/Los Angeles; Philadelphia; San Diego; and St. Louis—among a local market probability sample of 250 adults in each metro area by Opinion Research Corporation during the period Dec. 4-15, 2009.