The global plantain chip market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 5.51% from 2025 to 2032, after an increase of 5.27% in 2025, according to Research and Markets. The increase is driven by two main factors. First, the chips are a good fit with rising consumer demand for better-for-you snacks. And, second, they are not only popular in many global cultures but are being embraced in countries, like the U.S., where consumers are interested in sampling global foods.
It follows that plantain chips, and their close cousins, banana chips, have started to emerge as the focus of collaborations around the world:
- Licensed chips. Earlier this month, Chiquita, represented for licensing by The Joester Loria Group, signed a deal with Snax-Sational Brands for a line of Chiquita-branded plantain chips in original, chile limón, garlic, and sweet flavors, as well as plantain scoops with sea salt. The first products are set to launch in January. In March 2025, Tajín USA licensed Zambos for Zambos chips with Tajín chile-lime seasoning, in various bag sizes. And in 2024, Indian marketer Beyond Snack paired with film studio Mythri Movie Makers to create a banana chip whose flavor, Flower Nahi Fire, was inspired by the Bollywood film Pushpa 2: The Rule. The packaging of the snack, available across several regions of India, featured visuals from the movie.
- Brand extensions. Veza Sur Brewing Co. and Chifles, both based in Miami, collaborated in 2021 on a limited-time beer offering, Chifles Blonde Ale, brewed with 100 pounds of Chifles original plantain chips and available at the brewery. Separately, Korean snack maker Nongshim partnered with Crocs, also in 2021, for a yellow pair of the company’s signature clogs inspired by the marketer’s Banana Kick chip, which is not a banana chip per se but rather a corn chip with a banana flavor. The Jibbitz charms that accompany the shoe take their cues from Banana Kicks as well as other Nongshim snacks including chicken chips, potato chips, and shrimp crackers.
- Promotional initiatives. Singer-actress Meecah signed with Good Sam Foods earlier this year to promote its line of chips made, with no added ingredients, from plantains grown on small farms. Going back a few years, Miami chef Giorgio Rapicavoli paired with Chifles, which is one of the leading plantain brands in the U.S., to create a special nacho recipe to promote the plantain maker’s then-new product, Chifles plantain shells.
Many marketers, both large and small, operate in the plantain chip and (mostly globally) the banana chip space. This fragmented landscape and the strong growth prospects for the category leave room for more licensing and other forms of partnership as brands look to differentiate themselves and spur incremental sales.
In case you missed it, Raugust Communications’ annual round-up of the licensing trends of the year — this edition recapping 25 trends from 2025 — was posted earlier this week. You can read it here.
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