Retail Media Insights · Sensor Tower · August 2026
Snack Brands Are Hungry for Retail Media
From household names like Frito-Lay and Oreo to emerging brands like David Protein and Khloud, Snack Foods brought together one of retail media's most diverse landscapes. We explored how retailer partnerships and major campaigns reshaped the leaderboard throughout 1H 2026
Snack Foods Took the Biggest Bite of Retail Media's Food Category
Within the broader Food category, Snack Foods accounted for nearly one third of all Retail Media impressions in 1H 2026, making it the category's largest subcategory by a wide margin. For context, Snack Food brands far outpaced other leading subcategories like candy, condiments, and prepared meals.
Chips, pretzels, and popcorn represented the largest portion of Snack Foods’ activity, contributing to one of retail media's most active and competitive environments for food brands.
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Campaigns Reshaped the Snack Landscape in 1H 2026
The leading Snack Food advertisers in 1H 2026 reflected a diverse mix of brands, spanning from legacy CPG leaders like Frito-Lay and Oreo to a new generation of wellness brands such as David Protein and Khloud. Rather than one advertiser maintaining a consistent lead, category rankings shifted throughout the first half of the year as major campaigns launched across retailers.
Two standout activations highlight just how dynamic the category became in 2026. In January, Target's multi-brand wellness campaign on OTT propelled David Protein to the top of the rankings. In June, an Amazon OnSite Display campaign promoting Prime Day deals on multipacks helped Frito-Lay pull away from the competition.
Leading Snack Brands Carved Out Different Retailer Partnerships
Retailer partnerships varied widely among the leading Snack Food advertisers in 1H 2026. Most brands established one primary retail media partner, while maintaining a lighter presence across several others.
A few standout campaigns highlight the diverse range of brand strategies in 1H 2026:
Frito-Lay ranked #1 at Kroger with a FIFA World Cup campaign that connected snack foods to one of the year's biggest sporting events.
Clif prioritized Amazon, but instead of relying on the retailer's typical OnSite conversion-focused placements, they turned to OffSite Display ads with lifestyle creative that emphasized branding over pricing and CTAs.
Oreo earned the #1 SOV at Sam's Club through a feature in the retailer's "Come Join Us" campaign starring Jason Sudeikis.
Channel Strategies Varied Across the Leading Snack RMNs
In 1H 2026, Amazon (1.3B) and Walmart (710M) generated the largest volume of Snack Food impressions. Both retailers leaned heavily into OnSite Display, while most other RMNs generated the majority of impressions through OffSite channels.
Brands also adapted their creative to fit each retailer's channel mix. At Instacart, 60% of impressions ran on OTT, led by Crunchmaster's "Instacart Stories" campaign, which told the story of a rural mother using Instacart to shop for her picky eaters. Walmart, meanwhile, generated the category's highest share of Snapchat impressions (13%), as Khloud promoted their Protein Popcorn with a youth-focused creative.
Are you ready to see how your competitors are investing in retail media networks? Retail Media Insights provides marketers with complete visibility into the co-branded digital advertising ecosystem and retail media networks. This monthly highlight provides only a small sample of the potential insights and use cases. Learn more by requesting a demo below.
