Croky seeks further growth through remarkable strategy

Belgian crisps producer Croky managed to manufacture more than 85 million bags of crisps in one year for the very first time. For this year, the company wants to strengthen its market position through a quite remarkable step.

Twelve new flavours

Croky is determined to cement its place on the supermarket shelves, and has opted for a striking approach to do so. While many competitors have reduced portion sizes to save costs (a tactic known as shrinkflation), Croky is increasing the content instead. The 175 gram bags are being upgraded to 200 grams, without a price increase.

The producer is also introducing twelve new products to widen its range. For example, the company is launching its own tortilla line and is introducing the ‘Sweeties’ range, which seeks to find a balance between sweet and salty snacks. This should help to offset the lost revenues from last year’s loss of the Hula Hoops licence to German Chio, resulting in a battle in both courtrooms and supermarket floors. Croky is also expanding in the geographical sense, focusing on the Netherlands and Northern France to strengthen its presence outside Belgium.

The brand came into the hands of the Belgian private label snack producer Roger&Roger in 2004. That is the largest European producer of private label crisps, with customers in 35 countries. Last week, it announced a significant expansion of its production capacity in Mouscron. In that factory, four out of every ten crisps that roll off the production line are sold as Croky.