HANOVER, PA. — As food shoppers hunt for more value, salty snack maker Utz Brands Inc. scored a hit with its bonus pack program – but it came at a price.

In December, Utz launched a test of bonus packs for six products, offering consumers 20% more snacks for the same retail price. The program included five Utz potato chip varieties (original, honey barbeque, salt and vinegar, ripples original, and ripples sour cream and onion) and On The Border Café Style tortilla chips.

The company said the bonus packs helped drive organic net sales growth of 2.9% and a volume gain of 6.3% in the fiscal 2025 first quarter. Boosted by the bonus packs, branded salty snacks had even bigger increases, up 4.9% in organic net sales and up 8.3% in volume.

Howard Friedman, chief executive officer of Utz, described the bonus pack program as “delivering strong value to our consumers.”

“The offer resonated strongly with shoppers, helped lift our volumes and, when combined with geographic expansion, focused trade promotions and the strength of (our brand) Boulder Canyon, delivered strong organic net sales growth for the quarter,” he said in a May 1 webcast reporting Utz’s first-quarter results.

However, the organic sales and volume gains were partially offset by a 3.4% decline overall and in branded salty snacks on the pricing side, with the bonus packs accounting for 2.8% of the total and 3.1% of the branded salty snacks price decreases, Utz reported. The program also pulled down Utz’s average price per pound for the quarter, since more volume was given for the same price.

“Our average retail price per pound declined 5.4% due to channel mix, bonus packs and disciplined promotional spend to maintain our price gaps,” Friedman said. “We remain thoughtful about where and how we reinvest to drive demand, with a focus on continuing to drive near-term value and long-term brand equity.”

Utz flagged the bonus pack products with red (Utz products) and blue (On The Border) tags indicating “Now 20% More” and “Limited Time Only!” Friedman shed more light on the strategy in a May 1 conference call with Wall Street analysts on Utz’s quarterly results.

“The intention was for this to be an opportunity to test different ways to deliver value to consumers,” he said. “One thing that we have certainly seen on bonus packs, obviously, is the consumer response was very positive, and we feel really good about how we’re going to play different roles in different places. In expansion geographies, it was also a great trial vehicle. So, we were able to get product into new markets and give consumers an opportunity to opt in and try it. And then at our core, it was a different way to deliver value.”

In response to an analyst question, Friedman said the bonus packs are a limited-time offer, and the program is now winding down as Utz enters key selling seasons.

 “Our expectation was that we would do it for a brief period of time,” he said. “It would flow in and flow out, and we continue to expect that to be true as we transition into the merchandising plans that we have for the summertime.”

Utz’s bonus packs reflect efforts by other big snack companies to extend more value to consumers by tinkering with package sizes, including bonus sizes by salty snack market leader PepsiCo/Frito-Lay and new price-pack architectures from Mondelez International.

Still, Utz saw its stock price fall after reporting first-quarter results, as investors seemed concerned that increased promotion by salty snack companies could squeeze profit margins.

“We attribute the 8.6% pullback in Utz stock to market fears that the company’s 3.4% net price decline in 1Q marks the beginning of a more promotional environment for 2025,” TD Cowen analyst Robert Moskow said in a May 2 research note. “This is probably an overreaction, given that 2.8% of the headwind came from temporary factors. However, we continue to harbor concerns about weak demand in the salty snacks category and how the market leader PepsiCo may respond.”

The bonus packs contributed to a positive performance by Utz in the quarter, but lingering soft consumer trends in the salty snack category may push promotional investments higher, according to Moskow.