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. 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 With almost two thirds of consumers now looking for functional benefits from their food choices2, 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.
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