The top grocers for SNAP recipients are…

A new study reveals the 10 most popular grocery retailers for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.

According to a special report from customer data science company dunnhumby, “The SNAP Rollercoaster,” the top 10 grocery retailers for SNAP (federal benefits once known as “food stamps”) customers are:

1. Save-A-Lot
2. Food 4 Less
3. Dollar General
4. Winco
5. Grocery Outlet
6. Price Rite
7. Walmart
8. Aldi
9. Marcs
10. H-E-B

Other key findings from the study include:

• Ninety-two percent of SNAP customers are at or below the poverty line and are likely to be caregivers, working or both: Two in three (65%)  SNAP recipients have families with children, 36% are in families with older adults who are disabled, and 41% are working.  Cashiers and food service workers are twice as likely as the general population to be on SNAP.
• Lower spend, higher loyalty.  SNAP and lower income shoppers visit fewer grocery banners on average than higher income consumers (3.6 stores compared to 4.5 in an average month); and are more likely to give a grocery retailer their loyalty than higher income shoppers. 
• SNAP reductions have impact. Due to benefit reductions of an average of 22% per SNAP household, 2023 U.S. grocery revenue will be $20 billion less than 2022.

[Read more: Are SNAP recipients good customers?]

“SNAP recipients began a roller coaster ride in April 2020 with the arrival of higher SNAP benefits due to the pandemic that initially left them with larger food budgets to feed their households,” said Matt O’Grady, president of the Americas for dunnhumby. “This year, they are left in a precarious position with a deep reduction in their SNAP benefits, resulting in much less disposable income available to take care of their household food needs. Retailers that can be part of the solution by providing customers with strategies and tactics that meet their needs better than the competition will be building loyalty with a group of customers that over time will represent a sizable portion of the grocery market.”

The overall rankings in “The SNAP Rollercoaster” are the result of a consumer survey-informed statistical model. As part of this special report, dunnhumby used data from governmental agencies for its analysis in addition to its RPI database containing 70,000 grocery consumer interviews conducted from 2017 through 2022. Sixty-nine of the largest U.S. grocery retailers in conventional, mass, club, specialty, discounter, drug, and dollar channels were included in the RPI.