From people in half a dozen fantasy football leagues to those who don’t know a touchdown from a first down, watching the Super Bowl is a time to gather together around food. Lots of food.

Game day is huge in the grocery industry, second only to Thanksgiving as the largest food holiday of the year. Last year, 98.2 million people watched the event — snacking before, during and after the game. Here are some of the most popular items devoured on Super Sunday:

• More than 105 million pounds of avocados
• One billion chicken wings
• More than 8 million pounds of tortilla chips
• Upwards of 12 million pounds of bacon

NCG offers resources that can help you take advantage of the national food frenzy and help shoppers get ready to celebrate with food. Simplicity is key. Customers are looking for snacks that are easy to prepare, serve and transport. Planning ahead is essential, both for your store and for customers who want to avoid a last-minute scramble. 

• Cross-merchandising is a great way to get shoppers thinking about food ideas for the upcoming game. Find cross-merchandising ideas in NCG’s Q1 Promo Playbook. Complete workbooks of endcap planners are available for each month, too.
• Get shoppers in the mood with game day promotional materials. Posters with inviting food photography, table tents, recipe cards and party menu planners help to create in-store excitement. If your store makes its own promotional materials, you can use NCG’s proprietary game day food photos; contact us for details.
• You can make your customers’ mouths water before they even enter the store by sharing recipes from Welcome to the Table’s Game Day Food collection. Also share our Game Day Entertaining article for a guide to planning and preparing party food.
• Super Bowl Sunday can mean big sales for fresh departments. Piggyback off of avocados’ popularity by featuring other guacamole ingredients, such as limes, onions, garlic and cilantro. Cut fruit and dips are also winners. Meat and seafood departments should feature chicken wings, sausages and grass-fed beef; cheese departments will want to promote cheese balls or trays.
• Bulk up. Consider doing a promotion on bulk nuts. People ate three million pounds of nuts during the game last year!
• Drink up! If your co-op sells alcohol, be sure to feature a selection of favorite local brews. For co-ops without beer sales, merchandise unique and specialty soft drinks with thematic game day signage for maximum sales.
• All of this also means a 20% increase in antacid sales the Monday after the game — a hint to wellness departments!