Top snacking trends: Texture, flavour and on the go

Other top trends included on-the-go and mail-order snacks, treats for different occasions, clean labels and protein and fibre ingredients said the firm's director of innovation Lu Ann Williams.  

“The UK is driving a lot of innovations with flavours, formats and packaging,” Williams told a press briefing hosted by the Almond Board of California in London on Friday (October 2).

There was also an increasing focus on different textures and most consumers were defined as “crunchers” who enjoyed crunchy snacks like almonds, she said.    

                                   Lu Ann Williams speaks at the Almond Board of California event

‘Combine more textures’

“It’s looking at how you can combine more textures and create new experiences from layers and combinations of ingredients,” she said.  

In terms of flavour, there were more sweet and savoury combinations, such as salted caramel popcorn, and ethnic flavours, such as Korean vegetable dish kimchi.

Williams said: “There is no shortage of flavours. This whole generation has grown up with everything is possible, every kind of flavour is possible.”  

On-the-go snacks, like fruit and nut bars, and mail-order snacks, such as Graze boxes, also featured as the demand for convenience food continued. 

‘Continues to grow’

“It’s a trend that’s been going on for a long time but it continues to grow,” she said.

Snacks were increasingly marketed according to the time of day. For example breakfast bars were marketed as something to eat first thing in the morning.  

“Is it a morning occasion, a snack occasion or an indulgence occasion? There’s going to be a lot more positioning around the time of day,” she said.

In addition, Williams said clean labels were “here to stay” and there was growing use of protein and fibre in new product development as health awareness grew.

She also stressed the importance of concepts like health and indulgence when designing snacks that will appeal to consumers. 

Meanwhile, tactical insight into the food and drink industry of tomorrow is the aim of a Food Manufacture’s innovation conference in March 2016. 

For information on the conference – New Frontiers in Food and Drink – click here.