It’s no secret that America is a nation of snackers. Nearly 95% of Americans snack at least once daily and 45% of people admit to replacing meals with snacks. What’s more, snacking is continuing to grow. “We are becoming a nation of grazing snackers as we shift away from the traditional meal times,” said James Russo, senior vice president of global consumer insights for Nielsen.
With snacks becoming a larger part of the nation’s overall diet, consumers are becoming increasingly concerned with purchasing healthier snacks. More than 30% of consumers claim that they are snacking on healthier foods compared to last year, especially those with simple ingredients and lower calorie counts. Protein is among the nutritional attributes most in demand with consumers.
“If we’re going to snack in place of meals, consumers want something that will keep them full, such as high-protein snacks, yogurt, nuts and meat snacks,” said Jared Koerten, senior analyst for Euromonitor International.
As a result, high-protein-snack categories are on the rise. According to IRI, the U.S. consumer packaged goods industry registered its strongest growth in four years in 2015, and some of the biggest gains were achieved by protein-rich foods and healthy snacks. Some of the categories seeing strong sales include snacking nuts/seeds, which exceeded $5.2 billion in sales in the previous 52 weeks (up $13 million) and dried meat snacks, which exceeded $2.8 billion in sales in the past 52 weeks (up $73 million).
With all-day snacking becoming more prevalent and consumers seeking out healthier snack options, convenience store retailers can boost sales by offering the right snack options that capitalize on these trends. Food manufacturers have been working on delivering new product and packaging innovation to fulfill the changing landscape of consumer needs.
According to Randy Gilbride, brand director for Duke’s Freshly Crafted Smoked Meats, “This new era of snacking has resulted in strong growth in the dried-meat-snack category since meat-based proteins are a great meal replacement. It’s also led to a lot of interesting new product innovation. One of the products we’re really excited about is our single-serve Smoked Shorty Sausages. They are made with real, whole ingredients and not a lot of sugar so they’re on trend with consumer demand for healthier products. They’re also highly portable and a perfect portion-controlled size for on-the-go snacking.”
Healthy snacks will continue to provide an opportunity for food manufacturers and c-store retailers in 2017 and beyond. While snacking has increased across all demographics, the strongest snackers are younger millennials, of which 24% snack four or more times per day.
With our youngest consumers replacing traditional meals with snacks, it appears that the snacking trend is here to stay.
This post is sponsored by Duke’s Smoked Meats