LONDON -- Men ages 18 to 34 men account for the largest demographic segment of high-volume users of nutrition bars, but women of all ages represent the next four largest groups of consumers who use relatively large quantities of nutrition bars in the United States, according to a new report.
Female baby-boomers and women 65 and older will be an increasingly important target for nutrition-bar marketers, according to the Packaged Facts report. Meanwhile, one in six (16.4%) high-volume users of nutrition bars are women 55 years old and over.
"Moreover, nutrition and cereal/granola bars conform to a broad cultural shift toward healthier, good-for-you food products," the report states. "Bars provide an attractive way for food marketers to offer alternative, exotic sources of protein; bold, exciting flavors; ingredients with a shiny health halo resulting from their organic and natural characteristics; and superfoods and other functional ingredients targeting specific health concerns such as a desire or need for food to be gluten-free."
Nutrition bars, which have achieved brisk sales growth in recent years, provide an especially appropriate platform to deliver the kind of dense nutrition today's consumers crave and search for in sources such as ancient grains and healthy seeds, including quinoa, amaranth, sorghum, chia and flaxseed.
The Packaged Fact report also focuses on trends shaping the market for nutrition and cereal/granola bars; provides an estimate of U.S. retail sales of nutrition and cereal/granola bars for the 2009 through 2014 period and a projection of U.S. retail sales through 2019; identifies marketing and new product trends; and provides an in-depth look at today's consumers of nutrition and cereal/granola bars.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.