Sligro promotional formula Big Snack dies a silent death

Big Snack is no more. Sligro’s soft promotional formula has quietly died a quiet death in recent months. Sligro’s harder cafeteria formula Plaza is also numerically no longer a shadow of what it was. There are still 33 branches left.

The web address Bigsnack.nl is now directly linked to Plazacafetarias.nl. Entrepreneurs who were still affiliated with Big Snack continued solo. But in many cases they kept their name online: Big Snack followed by the company’s proper name.

Effect of Franchise Act

Soft promotional formulas from wholesalers, such as Big Snack, often emerged in the 1990s. However, due to the new Franchise Act, such separate collaborations under one logo are no longer possible. Formulas actually only has two choices left: continuing as an old-fashioned branch company or tougher franchise contracts. A formula such as AnyTyme (Hanos) but also other concepts opted for the latter. Sligro therefore opted for option three at Big Snack: complete dismantling.

“We want to grow again”

In 2020, Sligro was still bursting with ambition with its cafeteria formulas. “Sligro wants to grow again with Plaza and Big Snack,” wrote trade magazine Misset Horeca following a meeting with affiliated entrepreneurs. A year ago, Big Snack still had 35 locations. But work was already underway to dismantle the action formula.

Once 155 branches

Big Snack was originally a brand of ZNAF, a manufacturer of deep fryers. After the manufacturer went bankrupt, wholesaler Sligro took over the brand name. At the suggestion of then CEO Abel Slippens, Big Snack was created in 1996 as a soft promotional formula. “We become number two on the Snack Couriers Ranking,” said the formula manager in 1997 in an interview with the then trade magazine.

Although Big Snack did not reach the number 2 position in the list of largest fast food formulas in the Netherlands, at its peak with 155 branches it was one of the ten largest fast food concepts in our country. Even in 2007, 150 outlets were still counted, but in the period 2012-2014 the number of outlets fell below a hundred. In the years that followed, the decline was even more rapid.

Image: Big Snack logo, Sligro Formulas