Snack food use. Although whole seed, or confectionery, use of sunflower in the U.S. is only about 10 – 20% of the crop each year, it is a premium market. Prices for confectionery sunflower run significantly higher oilseed sunflower. Most of the confectionery sunflower is sold for snack food. Reportedly in Russia, sunflower seeds are such a popular snack food that people carry packets of them around in their pockets, making them even more popular than peanuts are in the U.S. Some confectionery sunflower finds its way into processed foods, such as granola bars, multigrain breads or other baking uses. Confectionery sunflower varieties have seeds that are larger, easier to dehull, lower in fat and are typically striped or white (oilseed types are almost always black, but can be white or striped).