Snacking Trends in 2023 and Beyond

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Snacking is common among consumers, particularly during today’s busy, fast pace lives in which consumers have become less structured in terms of mealtime habits. However, with an increased focus on health and wellness, consumers are looking to incorporate an approach of avoidance and moderation into their snacking habits. This means avoiding or moderating certain ingredients that are deemed ‘dietary evils’, such as sugar.

During today’s era of uncertainty, brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, and socio-political events such as war, comfort eating is on the rise. This form of snacking involves consumers turning to more indulgent food and drink, as a means of escapism from the worries and pressures of everyday life. As a result, a significant proportion of consumers will be seeking products that help to alleviate the guilt associated with snacking, by playing closer attention to the ingredient listings on food and drink.

In addition, many consumers will be searching for products that offer transparency and reassurance regarding the formulation of such products. This includes turning toward products that are deemed real and authentic, through ingredients and formulation processes.

Snacking Habits

While a large number of consumers are looking to improve their health and dietary plans, skipping meals is common among consumers. For instance, FMCG Gurus’ consumer insights reveal that 29% of global consumers say they sometimes skip breakfast. Our findings could be linked with breakfast being a more rushed and time-scarce part of the day. Additionally, 18% of global consumers state they are eating breakfast less frequently, compared to twelve months earlier, which could be a result of the cost-of-living crisis. It is important to consider that meal-time habits are becoming much less structured, and as a result, snacking will become more common among consumers. To accommodate to this time-scarcity, brands should position snack products as convenient, easily consumed on-the-go, and nutritious.

Health-Consciousness

Our findings demonstrate that 42% of global consumers check nutritional labeling when seeking out snacks some of the time, and 22% do so most of the time/all of the time. This indicates widespread health-consciousness among a significant proportion of consumers, who are attentive toward the nutritional value of snacks. In addition, our consumer insights reveal that consumers are most likely to check calorie content and sugar content. It must be noted that this does not necessarily mean consumers will put a product back if they feel it is unhealthy, but it suggests an increased attentiveness to the ingredient listings and nutritional value of snack products.

This highlights that while consumers will be focused more on minimizing the intake of ingredients deemed detrimental to their health, snacks that help alleviate guilt will be of high appeal.

Quality & indulgence

From an indulgence perspective, a total of 52% of global consumers say they like to enjoy moments of pure indulgence where they pay little-to-no attention to nutritional intake. Further to this, 82% of global consumers say these occasions are perfectly acceptable as part of an overall healthy diet. Our findings illustrate that despite the importance of health and sustainability, taste and indulgence remain a huge influence when consumers seek snacks. As a result, brands must ensure that when introducing better for you products, they must not compromise on sensory appeal, but instead, establish a balance between indulgence and nutrition.

This article is based on FMCG Gurus: Snacking Trends – Country Reports 2023. For more information, please contact us at info@fmcggurus.com.

About the Author

Kate Kehoe is marketing executive at FMCG Gurus. For more information, please visit www.fmcggurus.com or e-mail info@fmcggurus.com.