According to a recent report by Nielsen, 40% of shoppers have said that they expect to pay a premium for healthy and functional snacks.
The data reflects a change among consumers about the way they perceive snacks. They now consider healthy snacking options as opposed to chocolate, sweets, crisps and soft drinks.
The Health Factor
The attitude towards sugar and protein consumption is changing and consumers are more conscious about the ingredients in the products they purchase.
There has been a rise in ‘organic’ products as well as products with a ‘free from’ claim.
According to Nielsen’s Brandbank data, there were 22,960 products with the ‘free from’ claim in 2017.
Additionally, it was found that a third of customers preferred products with a ‘free from’ claim.
In April of this year, a study shared by market insights firm IRI found that healthy options were boosting the sale of snacks across Europe.
A Big Push By Private Labels
Traditionally, snacking has been led by brands, but private labels have started entering the arena.
Setting aside quality perceptions, private labels have now started to introduce premium snacking products. Differences in the rate of innovation, depth of range, and quality perception between private labels and brands were major factors that resulted in a gap in market share.
As of now, the snacking category is worth £18 billion (€20 million) and is growing at 0.3% in value.
The category requires a high level of innovation and continuous investment in new product development, according to Nielsen.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
