Americans are snacking more, and it's leading to big opportunities for fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers. In the last year (week ending Feb. 25, 2017), salty snacks in particular generated more than $27.8 billion in sales. 
 
And while salty snacks are bringing in the most bucks, consumers are also protein-crazed... meaning meat snacks have a big opportunity within grocery stores, convenience stores, drug stores and other food retailers where snacks are sold. 
 
A few key highlights from a recent Nielsen report: 

A $2.8 billion category, meat snacks (including jerky and stick formats) posted compound annual sales growth of more than 7% over the past four years, with sales growth of 3.5% in the last year.

American households spend an average of $25.81 per year on meat snacks. Their per-trip spend on sticks and jerky is also about twice as much as it is on popular staples like potato chips and popcorn ($7.42 vs. $3.61 and $4.01, respectively)

Asian-American households spend the most on meat snacks each year ($31.61 on average) and are more than 22% more likely to buy meat snacks than the average shopper.

Check out this Nielsen blog post to learn more.