Rustlers has announced plans to grow the UK’s £150m micro snacking category by £50m over the next four years, with an increased marketing spend of £2.5m over the next 12 months.

One of the key growth pillars will be the continued focus on doubling Rustlers’ sales in convenience with the Kepak brand’s Rustlers Super 6 range (£1.99 PMP) accounting for 59% of all micro-snacking sales, according to IRI Total Convenience.

Rustlers will also launch a number of marketing support, including a TV advert that will debut in November, along with a major digital and outdoor campaign. New packaging will also be introduced in Spring 2017 to further boost visibility.

Adrian Lawlor, Kepak Convenience Foods’ marketing and business development director, said: “We’re in a very strong position because people who currently buy Rustlers rate the brand higher than loyalists of all other brands in our competitive set.

“However, the challenge and major opportunity we and our retail partners have is to improve the perception of Rustlers amongst people who have yet to try the product by addressing the gap between perception and reality and our marketing drive will focus on that.

“We’re building on a really positive platform with the Rustlers brand currently growing significantly ahead of the category, with year-on-year sales up 18%.”

“Food to go is forecast to increase by 10% in the next five years and is becoming increasingly important in the convenience channel, where it’s already worth almost £5bn. As more than half of all micro snacks are bought on a food to go mission, we’re going to work closely with c-store retailers to make the most of this key sales opportunity.”