Snack food sales in the United States increased 6.2 percent in 1999, to reach $19.38 billion, according to the Snack Food Association.
In partnership with the Snack Food and Wholesale Bakery magazine, the SFA said the figure included potato chips and a variety of other snack foods.
While the largest increase took place in the meat snack category, with sales going up 28.5 percent, sales of potato chips, America's favorite savory snack, experienced steady growth in '99 to reach $4.69 billion, or 2.2 percent more than in '98.
The SFA says new robust flavors were among some of the trendsetters in the chip category.