Snack Attack
If research from the Specialty Food Association and Mintel is correct, the market for snacks is growing (along with our waistlines?). Sales reached $127 billion reflecting a 15 percent increase between 2014-2016. While this might not seem significant, when compared with all food sales, where retail sales increased only 2.3 percent – the increased growth of specialty food items is remarkable.
The snacking segment holds 28 percent of the total specialty food market and sales reached $16.3 billion (2016), representing a 16 percent jump. Of the 13 snack segments, approximately half experienced growth of more than 20 percent with jerky and meat snacks in the lead.
Market Share. What You are Eating
• Refrigerated lunch and dinner entrees: 33 percent of market
• Yogurt and Kefir: 27.2 percent of the market
• Frozen lunch and dinner entrees: 18.1 percent of market
• Bread and baked goods:15.8 percent of market
• Chips, pretzels, snacks: 13.3 percent of market
• Cheese and plant-based cheese: 12.4 percent of market
• Coffee and cocoa: 12.0 percent of market
• Frozen and refrigerated meat, poultry and seafood: 11.4 percent of market
• Chocolate and other confectionary: 10.0 percent of market
• Condiments, dressing and marinades: 8.1 percent of market
People are snacking more than ever, with 65 percent of consumers spending $140.3 billion in retail and food service sales (2017), an 11 percent increase since 2015. Millennials are a convenience-oriented market and this group drove sales in multi-unit grocery and mass markets.
If you are a manufacturer, you are a happy camper as net profits have increased 18 percent despite growing costs for certification, ingredients and products.
Read the full article at wines.travel.