SNACKS
Get to Know the Snackers Consumers who snack often are motivated by a variety of different reasons By Brian Berk
to the COVID-19 pandemic, snacking trends have changed. Consumers, on average, now consume 2.7 snacks per day, with those snacking five or more times per day increasing by 3 percentage points in 2021 vs. 2016, according to IRI’s State of the Snack Industry report.
THANKS IN LARGE PART
Snacking is primarily an at-home event, with fewer people currently working at offices and needing to travel in cars to get to their jobs. In 2020, 81 percent of snack consumption occurred at a consumer’s home, vs. 75 percent the year before, the most recent data available. More at-home snack consumption has led to an overall increase in snacking due to others in the household (up 8 percent in 2020 vs. 2019), screen-time snack consumption in front of a TV or computer (up 9 percent), and snack consumption while playing games (up 12 percent), according to The NPD Group’s Generational Snacking After COVID-19 report. Research by The Hartman Group reveals that there are four overarching reasons why people snack. The Bellevue, Wash.-based research firm calls these the “Four Pillars of Snacking Drivers:” nourishment, pleasure, distraction and optimization.
Per year, snacking for nourishment accounts for 97.1 billion eatings in the United States; pleasure accounts for 92.9 billion eatings; distraction accounts for 72.6 billion eatings; and optimization accounts for 59.7 billion eatings. Under these snacking drivers, consumers are specifically looking for taste, price, convenience, familiarity with a brand, positive nutrition (snacks free from perceived harmful ingredients), and quality, purity and values (freshness, ingredient simplicity, sustainable, organic), according to The Hartman Group’s Snacking 2020: Emerging, Evolving and Disrupted report. Robertson Allen, senior consultant for The Hartman Group, notes that these numbers may shift as distraction snacking — characterized by snacking due to boredom or to fill the time — is likely to decline. As the threat of the pandemic fades, it is still unclear whether snacking for distraction will continue to have the same kind of impact it has in recent years. “Pandemic-related anxieties have diminished, and these anxieties certainly drove some snacking-fordistraction behaviors. But other anxieties remain, such as those that are more economic and political,” Allen told Convenience Store News. “And people are continuing to work from home, which will likely alter how Americans snack to a certain degree, though children returning to school may also alter snacking
NOURISHMENT
Snacking that meets needs for daily sustenance, long-term wellness, and health management
DISTRACTION
Snacking that arises from the need to distract, whether due to stress, boredom, or other reasons
OPTIMIZATION
Snacking that helps one fulfill physical and mental performance demands
THE MODERN SNACKING FRAMEWORK
PLEASURE
Snacking that fulfills emotional desires for enjoyment, reward, discovery
Source: The Hartman Group Inc. AP RIL
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