Guilt-free snacking
Consumer awareness of healthy eating is informing more and more purchasing decisions every day. According to Mintel’s recent Global Food Trends report, predictions see vegetable-, nut-, seed- and plant-based products on the rise in 2017 – and the lunchtime market is no exception. A combination of factors including increased awareness around free-from and vegan alternatives has helped to ignite a sector that used to be limited to uninspiring sandwiches and soggy prepacked salads. As even mainstream consumers shift towards healthier, better-for-you options, more retailers and leading brands are cashing in on the lunchtime trade with its fresh food-to-go offerings and healthy snack alternatives.
The UK’s appetite for food-to-go has never been bigger. Valued at more than £20 billion, such numbers make it a hugely competitive marketplace. A recent survey by healthy snacks specialist Kallo Foods found that over 50% of consumers in the UK are eating packaged, healthier snacks, such as rice cakes, cereal bars and nuts at least once a day. Beth Roxburgh, Kallø brand manager at Wessanen UK, comments:
“It is encouraging to see that more and more consumers are moving away from unhealthy snacking choices and actively looking for foods and drinks that are a better for them, while still in a convenient packaged format.”
“The findings of our latest survey show that there is a big opportunity for brands and retailers operating within the healthy snacking category. Healthy lifestyles are becoming increasingly sought-after, yet there is still plenty of scope to actively support consumers to adopt a better approach to food,” she adds.
It’s not so long ago that high-fat, high-sugar snacks were considered the only options for banishing afternoon cravings, but brands are now moving past the typical offerings and are championing more diverse and sophisticated ranges – with natural and organic brands (and retailers) showing the way. Increasingly, innovative and healthier substitutes – like hummus chips, baked wholegrain snacks, vegetable crisps, seeds and nuts, raw kale chips and savoury seed cubes – are the new normal for the health-conscious snacker. Protein balls, fruit mixes and superfood bars are also favoured solutions for those in search of guilt-free snacking alternatives. Healthy and functional Partner and director of Vive Foods (stand A72) , Louis Bollard, says:
“Natural alternatives have seen huge growth, and natural snacking has become a big thing, especially in the UK. However, most products focused on ‘healthy’, and not necessarily functional. And for us, there wasn’t a tasty, plant-based protein snack bar for the health-conscious, active customer – so that’s why we started Vive.”
“We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive reception because we tick not only the natural box, but the functional one as well, which we anticipate will be the next big thing in snacking. This feedback has been particularly prevalent amongst the lunchtime market,” adds Bollard. Commenting on the market, Richard Lakeman, sales and marketing manager at natural snack start-up Born Tasty (stand A46), says:
“There is still a real and growing demand for innovation to deliver great-tasting, healthy and convenient snack options. These consumers are moving towards premium ways of snacking, basing their needs on quality, great taste and good value, rather than foods that just fill a gap.”
“Deciding on the first Born Tasty product was a bit of a no-brainer. The avoc- ado’s status as a tasty, healthy superfood is celebrated over the world. Our Snackamolé Dip & Chip is an altogether easier way to eat avocado. Targeting the ‘eat on-the-go’ consumer we take naturally-grown whole fruit and lovingly mash it with nothing but a few ingredients. Using a very clever new pressure technology means you get not only that great avocado taste but a great shelf-life too,” adds Lakeman.
Here’s just a taste of the healthy snack products on show at lunch! this year..
This article first appeared in Natural Products News, September 2017.
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