Healthy Snacking - US - July 2012

At a time when America’s obesity problem is receiving extensive coverage from the media, consumers are becoming more aware of the long-term potential health implications of their eating habits. Unlike some other eating occasions, snacking is most associated with fun and perhaps even indulgence, which can make it challenging for the snack industry to try and re-position some of its products as being consistent with the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle. However, Americans’ quest to manage their health more effectively by closely monitoring their eating habits may create an opportunity for the snack industry to re-invent itself a bit to remain relevant to health-conscious consumers.

With this in mind, Mintel has taken an in-depth look into the mindset of consumers to provide insights on a wide range of topics that can help the snack industry determine the best strategies for maximizing sales opportunities when targeting healthy snackers. Specifically, this report shares insights on the following topics:

What market factors have the potential to impact the snack industry the most and what can manufacturers and retailers do to turn challenges into opportunities?
What are snackers’ views of the various snacking options? In particular, which snacks are considered healthy and which are not viewed favorably?
What effect will the various food labeling systems have on the snack industry as manufacturers and retailers look to be more transparent with nutritional information?
Given the highly competitive snacking market, what have manufacturers and retailers been doing in terms of innovation to generate buzz around their products?
What types of marketing strategies are most likely to resonate with the snacking consumer? Given the wide range of snackers’ ages, how much of a factor is social media and other vehicles that skew toward a younger audience?
What are the most important considerations for snackers when making a purchase decision? How much of a role do demographic factors (e.g., age, household income, gender, race) play in consumers buying habits?