ORLANDO, FLA. — The food industry is currently under pressure both with volume sales down due to inflation and regulatory uncertainty under the new Trump administration. However, despite these headwinds, the leadership of SNAC International is optimistic about the snack industry’s enduring success. 

“One of the things that we are observing is that the consumer in the snacking space really wants to see a lot of options. One of the reasons I say that the industry is really strong is we see companies innovating to provide a variety of products for the consumer, but also other sectors are looking to figure out how they can fit into the snacking space,” said Christine Cochran, president and chief executive officer, SNAC International. “Whenever you have that sort of innovation and drive, it’s a signal of a really strong category.” 

Consumers will always snack; that hasn’t changed, so the industry can depend on that for some sustainability. During the opening general session at SNAXPO 2025, held March 30-April 1, Sally Lyons Wyatt, global executive vice president and chief adviser consumer goods and foodservice insights, Circana, noted the strength of snacking. 

“Despite the macroeconomic headwinds, despite everything going on, consumers are still snacking,” she said. “However, what they are snacking on continues to evolve based on needs, trends and variety.” 

Innovation, Cochran noted, is the industry’s strength, but also its challenge. 

“Innovation is hard, and keeping pace with the consumer is hard,” she said. “Understanding where their tastes and preferences are going to shift, being able to look around the corners of consumer demand is very challenging.” 

Connecting the industry through events like SNAXPO is one way that Cochran believes SNAC International is helping snack manufacturers clear that innovation hurdle. The association brings together snack makers and their supplier partners — both equipment and ingredients — to create synergies that lead to innovation, she said. In addition, SNAC International consciously tries to bring companies of all sizes together to bring a diversity of thought to the conversation. 

“One of the things we’re really excited about at SNAC is the emerging brand space,” she said. “They are our disruptors; they are our innovators. They really drive and challenge the rest of the industry to stay on our toes.”

The industry faces other challenges as well, including high input costs and a host of regulatory uncertainty in light of the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda. This moment in time, Justin Spannuth, immediate past chair of SNAC International, and vice president and chief operating officer of Unique Snacks, Reading, Pa., noted that SNAC International has never been more critical to the snack industry’s success.

“SNAC’s effectiveness in guiding us through emerging regulatory issues has been invaluable,” he said. “Thanks to the Association’s expertise and support, we’re able to stay focused on running our businesses and driving growth.”

In light of the pace of change coming out of Washington, D.C., as well as the uptick in ingredient bans and extended producer responsibility policies in discussion at the state level, SNAC International’s strategic plan aims to increase the organization’s monitoring of state legislation and regulation. The group also plans to bring in consultants who can speak directly to these growing challenges. 

“We’ve built a very strong infrastructure at SNAC around federal legislative and regulatory action, and we’re working to expand that at the state level using that same efficient footprint so that we can monitor what’s going on and help members engage with their local representatives more directly and impactfully,” Cochran said. 

Phil Gusmano, vice president of purchasing, Better Made Snack Foods, Detroit, and the incoming chair of SNAC International, noted that the association’s ability to filter the information coming out of Washington, D.C., and communicating it to members has been invaluable. He stressed that moving forward, it will be critical for SNAC members to engage with their representatives on Capitol Hill. 

“We have to put our perspective in front of our legislators, not only in Washington but bringing them into our facilities so we can build communication and have a two-way street,” he said. 

Much of that challenge comes from the pace with which the Trump administration moves and expects change. Both Gusmano and Spannuth stressed that the industry has to be willing to work with Washington but also bring regulators alongside the reality and constraints of doing business. 

“Our challenge is going to be how do we move forward as an industry in conjunction with the mandates coming out of Washington and continue to feed the country,” Gusmano said.

Gusmano encouraged SNAC members to attend the association’s Legislative Summit, June 3-4, in Washington, D.C., to meet with lawmakers and express the impact regulatory and legislative changes are having on their businesses and employees.

“I have done fly-ins for more than 25 years, and I’ve learned that they just want to hear from the people in their states and in their districts,” he said. “They want to know your stories and how policies are affecting their district and the jobs in their district. The key is we have to educate them on how we’re being impacted.”

As SNAC International looks ahead to the rest of 2025 and 2026, membership growth will also be top-of-mind as the snack tent continues to grow. 

“We see more and more segments of the food space pivoting toward snacking, and we want to make sure that they understand that they’re welcome here,” Cochran said. “Whether it’s attendance at events or in membership, we are actively trying to establish the SNAC brand and visibility but also engage with companies. When companies join SNAC, they tend to see the value and stay, so broadening our membership to include categories like nuts and meat snacks would be natural extensions of where we already are.”