Snacking!!! Yeah, everyone crave for that yummy crunchy snack. Different preferences create entire niche for snacks in FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods). From sweet to spicy, there’s plenty of choice but let’s take a deeper look into snacks as FMCG category.

Most of consumers prefer snack as a food between meals. But number of people who switch proper meal for snack sharply increased. This creates demand for healthier snacks made from natural ingredients and artificial / natural flavours.

According to Mordor Intelligence, the global snack market expected to reach $639 billion by 2023. Consumer’s disposable income influence on snacking frequency. In urban areas demand for convenient food (on-the-go food) higher than in rural areas.

Here’s key segments of global snack market:

1. Confectionary and bakery snacks: cakes, cookies, bread, candy, bubblegum, chocolate, chocolate bars, fudge, jelly, marshmallow, marzipan, nougat, pudding, toffee, etc.
2. Salty and spicy snacks: potatoes & vegetables chips, tortilla chips, popcorn, cheese snacks, meat snacks, corn snack, onion rings, snack mixtures, salted nuts & seeds, etc.
3. Frozen snacks: ice cream, frozen custard, milkshake, smoothly, fruits, etc.
4. Specialty snacks: protein bars, protein powder (whey, soya, pea), healthy bars, meal replacement, greens powder, nut & seed snacks, etc. It’s high quality snacks made from premium ingredients. This snacks priced higher and target only selected category of customers (health oriented, higher income, sportsman).

According to Citi Research and Euromonitor world snack market divided on a few categories with representative numbers.

World snacks market grow fast. Low quality snacks most popular but it packed with unhealthy ingredients and calories. Average lunch for adult contain around 700 calories. Average snack contain more than 500 calories per 100 grams. Problem with snacks that it’s easy and fast to digest, that means after two hours consumers again hungry. With low physical activity level and high calories & low nutritional value, consumers gaining weight fast. For people with high body mass available healthy alternatives which in reality not healthy at all.

Big corporations spend huge marketing budget to make us believe that snacking is right choice for modern humans. Advertisement like “no cooking Friday” or “healthy meal replacement powder” are normal for us. Home cooking presented as something useless. Unhealthy snacks lead to carbs addiction and nutritional starving.

Companies use new trick to make health oriented customers to buy ready-to-eat snacks. Snack meals with variety of ingredients in one pack. Snack meals marketed as fuss free healthy snack for time pressured customers. In society proportion of health oriented citizens not high. This is perfect condition to sell products despite in long run it’s disaster for public health.

It’s okay to eat snacks as rare treat for yourself but not as a lunch or dinner.

Thanks for reading. Please follow and leave comments.