While snacking used to be seen as a rare indulgence between meals, over recent years it’s taken on a different role in our diet and lifestyle. As snacking increases, the definition of what a ‘snack’ is has never been broader, providing huge opportunity for innovation in this category. That being said, it has also never been more important for snacks to meet nutritional needs, adapt to the myriad of lifestyle choices, provide functional benefits, answer environmental concerns and empower consumers through transparency and clean label – all while still providing enjoyment and indulgence.
If you’re developing in the snack category, this doesn’t mean that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew – it may be easier than you think to meet ever increasing consumer demands.
The snack situation
There’s no denying that there’s a huge number of factors to consider when developing in the snack market – especially in the UK, where impending HFSS regulations are having a heavy influence on both existing and new products. What’s more, consumers’ focus on health has sharpened over recent years, leading to an increased demand for ‘holistic snacking’ – essentially, snacks that provide a higher nutrient density and added functionality.
Rather than viewing these factors as challenges to overcome, there has never been a better time to look at them as opportunities to take. In fact, entering into the healthy snacking market will help products to meet multiple demands, including the upcoming HFSS restrictions, salt reduction targets for 2024, calorie reduction programme and improve front of pack labelling. Furthermore, adding positive nutrition to products can allow for the use of approved health claims on pack – helping manufacturers to provide consumers with the transparency that they increasingly desire around what a product provides in terms of ingredients and functionality.
Familiarity as well as function
Snacks are no longer simply stopgaps between mealtimes, but an opportunity for consumers to fulfil their nutritional goals and needs – including for essential vitamins and minerals that they may not be getting from their meals. This is increasingly the case for those following more plant-based diets, who risk eliminating essential nutrients such as iodine from their diets when they omit or reduce food groups such as fish and dairy [1].
Despite this, only 2% of snack launches in 2020 highlighted specific vitamin and mineral fortification [2]. Meanwhile, snacks baring claims such as ‘source of fibre’ and ‘high protein’ continue to be pushed in new launch activity, despite already being widespread. In fact, some food items contain up to 17 promotional claims such as these, while only 6% of the food packaging in this research carried actual health claims [3].
Although innovation and new product development are undoubtedly important, it’s vital to remember that consumers don’t snack for nutrition alone, but also for fun and for flavour. Reinventing traditional snack categories will allow consumers to choose and enjoy snacks that they are familiar with, but that still provide a benefit to their health. For example, tortilla chips with healthy inclusions and crisps or puffs with added functional ingredients are one approach to creating a holistic snack.
Minimum input for maximum output
Other routes to holistic snacking include the use of ‘superfood’ ingredients, which are becoming a well-established feature of the market thanks to the health halo that they bring, alongside new and exciting flavours. Recent launches have included innovative ingredients such as seaweed, as manufacturers push to stand out in the better-for-you space [4]. Taking advantage of more savoury flavours is another route that certain brands are using to avoid their products falling into the high sugar category. For example, The Savourists have taken the beloved snack bar and reinvented it, creating three exciting savoury flavours that include ingredients such as chilli, olives and seaweed.
One way of maximising on the increased demand for holistic snacking is by looking to reformulate a specific range of products with a common ingredient that runs through each recipe. For example, altering one ingredient in a core seasoning mix that can be used across a whole range is a relatively simple yet high impact change, that can allow for successful reformulation across various products.
What do consumers want from their snacks?
With almost two thirds of consumers now looking for functional benefits from their food choices [5], there has never been a better time for manufacturers to look at how they can add nutritional value to their snack products. Progressively health-aware consumers are looking at the role that snacks can play in improving their wellbeing – especially in terms of the specific health benefits that they can provide.
In fact, 65% of consumers now recognise the link between good cognitive health and overall wellness [6], and over half of consumers are now looking for products which can help to improve their metabolic health [7]. Approved health claims relating to both cognitive health, metabolic function, and more, are able to be used by manufacturers, providing the product contains a sufficient amount of the nutrient relating to the claim.
Natural health through sustainable seaweed
A natural and cost effective way of adding approved health claims to food products is through the use of PureSea® seaweed ingredients, with only 100mg needed per serving to provide a good source of iodine and allowing for the use of six approved health claims, surrounding supporting normal:
- Cognitive function
- Energy-yielding metabolism
- Growth of children
- Thyroid function
- Skin health
- Functioning of the nervous system
When it comes to adding a source of iodine to products in order to make approved health claims, the only natural and plant-based source is seaweed. PureSea® seaweed ingredients are sustainably wild-harvested and measured every batch for iodine levels, evidencing safe and consistent levels over many years of production. In addition to this, every batch is uniquely DNA authenticated to ensure full and transparent traceability.
What’s more, incorporating PureSea® ingredients into food products can provide additional advantages including salt reduction through flavour enhancement, and health perception – with the addition of seaweed within a product shown to increase the purchase intention of customers, thanks to its health-halo [8]. Furthermore, 46% of savoury biscuit consumers thought that sustainably sourced ingredients made them worth paying more for, a trend reflected in the free-from market, where 40% of consumers were more likely to buy a product if it included sustainable ingredients [9].
PureSea® is available in a range of formats, allowing ease of use in a variety of applications.
Click here to view the full range, or contact us.
[1] Eveleigh, E.R., Coneyworth, L.J., Avery, A. and Welham, S.J.M (2020) Vegans, vegetarians and omnivores: how does dietary choice influence iodine intake? A systematic review. Nutrients, 12(6).
[2] Mintel (2021) Consumer Snacking – UK.
[3] Garcia, A.L., Menon, R. and Parrett, A. (2022) Extensive use of on-pack promotional claims on commercial baby foods in the UK. Archives of Disease in Childhood.
[4] Mintel (2019) Crisps, savoury snacks and nuts – UK.
[5] https://www.fooddive.com/news/functional-foods-attract-health-conscious-consumers/550429/
[6] https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/cognitive-health/cognitive-health-growing-priority-consumers
[7] https://www.fooddive.com/news/consumer-trends-shifting-toward-health-and-wellness-adm-finds/584388/
[8] Wageningen University & Research (2018) Innovative consumers more willing to buy foodstuffs containing seaweed.
[9] Mintel (2022) Free-from foods – UK.