Health and indulgence used to be on opposing sides of the snacking spectrum. Consumers would choose a product that was either indulgent or healthy, but they weren’t paying attention to the overlap. But consumers have become much more savvy and demanding when it comes to their product choices; they want it all, health and indulgence.

Overall, views on snacking have shifted significantly. Snacks were once considered an addition to a regular diet and were widely viewed as something to avoid. Today though, they are an active and positive part of regular diets. Snacks have become an integral part of daily life as schedules are perpetually busy, and people are in need of quick and easy ways to satisfy hunger for themselves and their family.

While a majority of people say they are snacking, they are not yet satisfied with what is currently available. This is where health and indulgence converge. Year after year diets are improving and consumers are looking for snacks that will satisfy their hunger and taste good, without leaving them feeling guilty.

Better Choices
Only 12% of consumers globally are what we call “anti-snackers”—those that always avoid snacking. That leaves 88% of people who are snacking. In addition, nearly five out of 10 shoppers believe that snacking throughout the day is just as good, if not better than, eating three meals a day. What the majority of people are avoiding are the unhealthy snacks, the things that may taste good but leave them feeling hungry and unsatisfied.

People are still enjoying indulgent snacks, but their choices are much more focused on healthier options or options with healthier elements, like higher protein content. The difficult piece is determining what “health” means to each consumer; it could be lower sugar or calories or that the product was produced sustainably. Either way, it’s about making a “better-for-me” choice that results in less guilt.

While indulgent snacks such as cookies/biscuits, candies/chocolate, and salty snacks have been steadily increasing since 2014, the usage of cereal/granola bars, meal replacement bars, and sports/energy bars has nearly doubled in the same amount of time.

Snack Bars
It’s clear that consumers are seeking snack bars and increasingly adding them to their diets. However, most snack bars are found in the center-store and are considered a processed food, which is often connected to being unhealthy. So why is usage increasing so much?

Even though most consumers view highly processed foods negatively, they are also necessary to provide the benefits they want. Food processing has an advantage when it comes to creating a healthier product through functional ingredients and corresponding benefits. This is something that unprocessed or “clean” foods and beverages can’t do. These added benefits help to create a product that the consumer can feel better about—a product that can help them reduce any guilt they may have when choosing or consuming a “snack.”

Sending the Right Messages
Although shoppers are comfortable with processed foods to get the benefits they want, they also want ingredients they recognize and understand. For six out of 10 shoppers, recognizing what is in a product helps influence their choice when they are shopping, but more importantly, consumers want to be informed on what they are eating.

Consumers want to know what’s in the product they are choosing to make the decision that is right for them at the time. It may not always be the healthiest choice from an ingredient standpoint, but it might be the cleanest or the most environmentally friendly, which could equate to a better or lower guilt choice.

Labels such as fresh, natural, no preservatives, no artificial colors/sweeteners/flavors are important to have on the front of the package. Advertising the things that shoppers want to stay informed about on their product labels is a great way to make them stop and look at something new.

Some may not be as concerned with the amount of calories a product has if it isn’t fresh or natural, but it’s a choice each consumer wants to make for themselves. With over half of shoppers saying their diet has improved, they want their snacking choices to reflect their new eating habits.

Healthy Indulgence
Although diets are improving, needs change throughout the day and there are many factors that influence what someone chooses to eat. When comparing nutrition to indulgence or reward, nutrition is far more important for all snacking occasions. Even still, we see consumers wanting to treat themselves with reward or indulgence more as the day goes on, and the priority for nutrition declines (see Figure 1.)

FIGURE 1. Nutrition vs. Indulgence Decision Making

With nutrition and indulgence both being important, and particularly in snack categories, there is a growing call to bridge the gap between the two. The demand for combining healthy and indulgent already exists with most consumers saying they want all categories, including soft drinks, snacks, and candy to be made as good for you as possible (see Figure 2).

The opportunity is clear. Most say they have trouble finding products that satisfy the healthy/indulgent combination, creating a strong value-add. In fact, three out of 10 consumers are willing to pay a premium for foods and beverages that are both indulgent and healthy.

FIGURE 2. Nutrition vs. Indulgence Product Preferences

With consumers saying that their diets are improving year after year, there is less of an interest in snacks that are purely indulgent. Shoppers believe that there is connection between what they eat and how they feel. They don’t want to eat something just because it tastes good if it will make them feel bad later in the day; it just isn’t worth it when they can have an indulgent and healthy snack.

HealthFocus International is a full-service market research and strategic consulting company specializing in understanding consumer attitudes towards health and nutrition. Since 1990, HealthFocus has been talking to consumers in over 40 countries about their interests, knowledge, and motivations around food, nutrition, and healthy living.

Today’s consumer thinks of their wellness broadly encompassing mental, physical, and lifestyle dimensions while at the same time seeing themselves as a unique individual who is part of the larger environment. This convergence creates new opportunities and challenges for today’s food, beverage, and supplement companies to connect and engage. 

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The HealthFocus International Database on Consumers and Healthy Living is the largest available on shopper health and nutrition. The syndicated HealthFocus Trend Survey, conducted in the U.S. and more than 40 other markets provides a depository of insights and information covering the historic evolution of health and nutrition—past, present, and future. Samantha Jones can be reached at [email protected].