One of the biggest snacking days of the year is almost here, and consumers are hungry for cheaper chips. <\/p>\n
The good news: Some Super Bowl snacks could cost less this year.<\/p>\n
PepsiCo announced<\/a> this week that it is cutting prices up to 15% for several popular snacks including Doritos, Lay\u2019s, Cheetos and Tostitos.<\/p>\n The price cut comes after years of rising costs at the supermarket. Grocery prices have climbed 2.4% over the last year and 25.6% over the last five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. <\/p>\n And salty snack retail prices jumped around 38% from 2020 to mid-2024, according to a report from Jefferies.<\/p>\n Those higher prices are weighing on many consumers. A new report<\/a> from Pew Research Center this week found 66% of Americans are very concerned about the price of food and consumer goods.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are value-obsessed now, and it\u2019s out of necessity,\u201d said Brian Choi, managing partner and CEO at The Food Institute, an industry data and consulting firm.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re seeing consumers shift down to private labels, so not the Doritos,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re looking for the Aldi version, or the Trader Joe\u2019s version because a lot of times, the price of chips are $2, maybe even $3, lower per package.\u201d<\/p>\n The discount supermarket chain Aldi has seen explosive growth<\/a> in recent years. Aldi said 17 million new customers<\/a> visited its American stores in 2025, and it plans to open more than 180 stores in the U.S. this year alone.<\/p>\n This shift to store brands and away from retail brands could pose a challenge to companies like Pepsi, which makes Doritos and Ruffles, and Mondelez, which makes Oreos and Ritz crackers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe average shopping basket of the consumer in the U.S., whether you\u2019re in the higher or in the lower social economic classes, has not increased for the last two, three years,\u201d said Dirk Van de Put, chairman and CEO of Mondelez, on a call with analysts this week.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin that basket, they have spent more money on the basics: milk, meat, bread and so on. And as a consequence, snacking is being affected.\u201d<\/p>\n