Snacking is a $184 billion dollar category that grew $3.3B in the past year. With a 100 percent household penetration rate, according to Nielsen, every home in the U.S. purchases snacks.  Consumers are getting more complex and making more personalized decisions within the snacking moment or occasion or when planning/anticipating the moment. Many articles exist about healthy eating; however, indulgent snacks are driving total dollar growth, as $2.6 billion of the total growth was in categories dominated by indulgence.

Mondelēz International launched a snacking research project grounded in social data to understand what was driving consumers to snack in this fragmented super category. Social data provides access to the world’s largest focus group that is actual, not ‘claimed’ behavior. Social can also provide the signal of what is to come, not what is here already.

Snacking remains indulgent at its core. The large volume of conversations revolve around snacks as a treat or indulgence, with the most discussed categories and brands reflecting this.  However, the face of indulgence is also changing, with high quality ingredients offering a new, healthier way to indulge.

Healthy conversations tend to be rooted in the functionality of the snack, including a focus on products and ingredients that benefit the mind and body. 

While healthy and indulgent are at opposite ends of the spectrum, there is a trend that is bringing them closer to meeting in the middle. Factors driving this trend include clean and natural ingredients, as well as a need to cater to alternative lifestyles due to dietary restrictions, and offer suitable ways for them to indulge or get suitable nutrition. Well-being emerges here to alleviate the tension of balancing healthy and indulgent snacks by recognizing both have a significant role. Well-being creates a balance between healthy and indulgent for overall health and happiness – addressing both the need to care for the body and the mind.

Snacking choices are very personal and are not a one-size-fits-all approach anymore. This creates more complexity in the snacking category offerings at retail. Total U.S. retailers increased the number of snack items carried in 2018 as well as increased points of distribution to meet these trends. Based on the growth of total snacking, it was well received by consumers.

By far the largest conversation generator, with 11 million conversations (up 25 percent in the past year) is about rewarding yourself with an indulgent snack for hard work or a celebration, according to Mondelēz custom research. Consumers are also increasingly looking outside of celebrations for reasons to indulge and reward themselves, whether this was because they have had a bad day, completed a tough task, or simply “just because.” Snacks are more often becoming the way that consumers will choose to reward themselves.

Key terms generated on social media include, “Special Occasion,” “Bad Day,” “Deserve,” and “Earned It.” Understanding the terms used can help connect to a consumer.

Categories growing in conversation fulfilling an “earned” indulgence need include popcorn, pretzels, ice cream, snack cakes, cookies, chips, gum, candy, chocolate, and crackers. 

Regarding occasions, indulgent moments are changing as they are no longer restricted to special celebrations or moments. Consumers are rewarding themselves for their daily wins. There is a growing trend of consumers exercising self-care, particularly after having a bad day. 

Now that we understand more about consumers and justifying their “earned” indulgence, activation needs to connect with this consumer mindset. For instance, we can utilize social media campaigns with key words with images to connect to special occasion, bad day and “earned it.” Or, we can create multi-category inspirational snacking displays and endcaps with signage speaking to celebration or to personal snacking occasions are both relevant. We could tap also into social influencers who create indulgent recipes that they share among their followers, converting those consumers into shoppers and driving them to store as another way to leverage this trend.

IT’S SNACK ATTACK TIME!
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