James Hedges | Source | Global Director of Strategy & Innovation at Club Demonstration Services

‘Grain-free’ as a claim within salty snacks is more widespread than many people may know, with items that leverage the claim accounting for over $27 million in sales. However, most of the sales come from areas that may be inherently grain-free — like vegetable snacks, which account for over $15 million. The real innovation has been in typically grain-reliant segments like tortilla chips that are growing at over 76% versus year ago — total sales are $1.5 million — and pretzels.