The New “Environment” Has Changed the Way We Snack
In March of 2020 as the world began to slowly come to terms with the idea of being “locked down” many of us were forced to make immediate changes to the way we live, work, play, workout, eat and yes; even the way we snack! It’s no secret that snack and stress eating were at an all-time high, one need simply look at overall sales of snack food or social media to simply see memes calling out having already eaten all of the “good quarantine” snacks.
As the world began to morph into what has become our “new” normal and shelves began to restock our favourite bars, snacks and bakery items; a pattern in how we allow ourselves to indulge and snack remerged. For years in much of the developed world; our go-go-go busy lifestyles have moved us away from 3 traditional meals into a space where meal and delivery kits are the norm while smart snacking and permissible indulgence allow us to treat ourselves without the guilt. From busy two parent households juggling travel and activity schedules to millennials constantly on the go meal time began to shift and snacking wisely with intent and permission targeted categories focused on protein fortified foods, keto and clean eating moved into the norm.
Consumers are Choosing Healthy Snacks
According to a 2019 Mintel[1]Mintel: Better for you snacking, US, December 2019 study on snacking and snacking behaviours; most consumers on average are choosing healthy snacks to some degree, and healthy snacking from protein fortified bakery goods to high protein snacks and bars have seen the greatest increase. So what exactly does that mean as “Healthy” can be defined many ways—for some people it may mean high-protein snacks, for others it may mean minimally processed or low-calorie foods.
With 60% of consumers considering “high protein” snacks claims a purchase habit driver choices and a broad audience provide; the end result is a range of different market opportunities for multiple categories among protein and protein fortified foods. Research[2]Mintel: Snacking Motivations and Attitudes, US, January 2019 has shown benefits of functional ingredients in protein fortified baked goods and snacks allowing the ability to take everyday foods to a new level of nutrition from permissible indulgence to smart snacking focused on bakery favourites such as high protein pancakes, breads, muffins and more.
As the pandemic continues and many of us are still working, learning, working out and staying home around the globe we have a front row seat to new innovations and categories in snacking that will be available to us. With snacking continuing to evolve; endless options meeting the day to day needs/wants of consumers we can expect to see this space continue to grow.
At NZMP functional protein solutions can deliver a broad range of formats and compositions for bakery ranging from a high protein “better for you cookie” for when the day calls for something sweet without ruining your diet. For example; our RTE cookie formulation provides an egg free, non-GMO indulgence with three times more protein than traditional cookie plus the nutritional and functional benefits of our dairy proteins by way of our NZMP SureProtein™. Now that’s a cookie worth tasting!
NZMP Cookie Concept Key ingredients: SureProtein™ 550 WPC SureProtein™ 4861 MPC SureProtein™ 397 WPC.
