Minneapolis, MN — Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupon activity is up 10.1 percent during the first six months of 2010 from the same period the previous year.

Kantar Media reports during the first half of 2010, more than $234 billion in consumer incentives were delivered through FSI coupons in Sunday newspapers, up 17.8 percent from the prior year. The average face value of coupons reached a new record of $1.51, a 7.1 percent increase compared with the previous year.

The researcher found the packaged goods sector remains the largest user of FSI pages with a 74.4 percent share, distributing 84,659 pages, an 11.4 percent increase from the past year. However, while eight of the top 10 product types using coupons grew through the first half of this year, snack coupons dropped 1.7 percent from 6.5 billion to 6.4 billion.