This Summer Is Officially Snack Season -- The Facts Prove It

You probably don’t need us to tell you that summer is snack season – we all know it, deep in our bones. It’s the season of chips, of finger food, of apps, of what we in the UK call picky bits. It’s a time when we can put the pots and pans away, and just…snack.

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But in case you DID need any further proof that this is the case, a new survey has confirmed that snacking is, indeed, rife throughout the summer – and the habits of said snackers, and what they opt for, is also pretty interesting. Snack City: population everyone.

Bust Out The Potato Chips

This snacking survey comes courtesy of Utz Brands, which took a nationally representative sample of around 2,500 US adults to examine when and how people snack in the summer months. First up, the bannerheads: Most people do it. Nearly two-thirds of all Americans snack every day in the summer months, and over 30% snack on salty foods multiple times per day. By contrast, only 1% of people don’t snack at all during summer.

Wading a little further into the data, the Utz survey revealed that the most popular snack nationwide was – in case there was any doubt – potato chips. Well over 35% of Americans opt for chips before another snack, more than double the number who choose another food. As for which flavors people go for, Original, Sour Cream & Onion, and Barbecue were all popular, with 18.7%, 18.5%, and 17.8% of the vote, respectively. And despite food companies telling us we should be eating dill pickle chips by the handful…well, only 6.6% of people reach for them. (We’d also imagine that Utz is a bit disappointed that its lemonade flavor was nowhere to be seen in the survey.)

What About By State?

Well, funny you should ask! Because Utz provided that information too. The survey revealed that Original flavor chips were most popular across the Northeast and Great Plains, whereas people prefer Barbecue chips in the South and in swathes of the Midwest. While Salt & Vinegar was only 13.3% of people’s favorite flavor across the country, in Arizona, Montana, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Oregon, it was considerably more popular.

As for what people are putting their chips in: Utz found that nearly a quarter of Americans have placed chips in a sandwich, while just over 10% have put them in (or on) a soup or chili. Chip and ice cream combos are almost as common, with 9.6% of people hitting their dessert with the salty snack.