Kirk Tanner, Vice President of Impulse sales at PepsiCo UK, seems as all-American as they come.

Graduating in accountancy from the University of Utah, he first got into the fast moving world of consumer packaged goods as a salesman for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, one of the biggest fmcg corporations on the planet, where he relished "the excitement of selling these big brands and seeing all that innovation being rolled out."

He has spent the last 16 years climbing the executive ladder of another global giant, PepsiCo, and has been with its British division for the last eight months, responsible for impulse sales of Walkers, Tropicana and Quaker.

Since coming to these shores, Tanner has spent a great deal of time visiting small independent shops, giving himself what he describes as a "crash course" in UK impulse selling. He says he has been struck by the "passion" UK independents have for retailing, how keen they are to grow their businesses and how "close" they get to their communities.

"I think that’s the exciting part of what I have seen here. The owners are so committed to developing their stores. And in America it’s much more detached, but over here someone will walk into an independent store and the owner will identify that person by name. That is a feature of the UK scene that is really striking to an American.

"And UK independents are so hands-on. They may have staff, but you will also see them down on their hands and knees cleaning the shelves, keeping the store tight and fit because there’s such a huge amount of pride that each of these store owners has. And they are absolutely committed to excellence in merchandising."

He defines "the mission" for Walkers within impulse as to provide sales solutions for retailers that drive "excitement and fun" back into the category in the local shop, and meet consumer needs based on the space available to the particular store owner and the type of customer base he has.

The crisps and snacks category has always been hugely important to independents. Due to health concerns, sales flattened a few years ago and even fell in some segments. A great deal of innovation, particularly around health and wellness, has helped buck the negative trends, and the 5.9 per cent growth the category achieved last year represents its best result in years.

"The focus that we have put on health and wellness has been at the very top of our priority list. We took steps to use innovation to drive this health and wellness agenda. And that brought us products like Walkers Baked and SunBites. If you look at the better-for-you segment of the category, it is absolutely a growth engine for us and will be in the future."

Tanner points out that the health issue is not the only factor driving growth. "If you look at the total category, it’s very broad, and innovation in snacks brands like Doritos and Quavers is also fuelling the growth."

"What we are trying to do with the category is provide the retailer with the right transaction size and the right product for what that consumption occasion really is. We are developing more sharing options across the portfolio, helping independent convenience retailers to get the most out of the sharing growth opportunity."

Having increased its sales force substantially, Walkers has now developed a ‘blueprint’ for convenience retailers, designed to provide them with informed choices on the entire breadth of the crisps and snacks category.

"We have broken it down into Eat Now, in standard 34.5g packs, Big Eat, in 50g, targeted as a hunger fill product, various larger sized packs for sharing occasions, and multipack options. So you can see there are two sizes of single serve, a sharing portfolio and a multipack that we want to deliver to independents."

How capable are retailers, given their limited space, of accommodating such a broad range from one manufacturer? "Our sales force delivers that blueprint, and the market knowledge, and this allows the retailer to make choices based on size of store. Because every store is different and has a different square footage, a different demographic, different sorts of customers, we have to partner with the retailer to help him come up with the right mix for his particular store.

"It’s also very important for independents to know that you have got to carry the best skus in any situation. If you have the opportunity to carry 30, 40 or 50 skus, you should carry the absolute very best 30, 40 or 50 and we have the objective category information that enables them to make the informed choice to do that."

After almost a year in this country Kirk Tanner says he is relishing every minute of his close working relationship with UK independents. "I have been brought in to focus on impulse and that means getting to know the independent sector at really close hand. In a job like mine, you don’t learn by sitting in an office at HQ, but by getting out there and talking to the shopkeepers. I am loving every minute of it."