Healthy eating trends co-exist
with the desire for traditional ‘full-fat’ flavours in the savoury snacks industry,
according for a new report* from leading information providers Euromonitor International.

The market has recently
been characterised by strong, heavily-backed brands, new exotic flavours, smaller
packaging formats and reduced-fat, low-salt products. Differences arise in national
tastes, for example the French, Italian and Spanish see savoury snacks as being
nothing more than accompaniments for aperitifs, while American and British consumers
eat crisps and nuts as a meal replacement, on the way to work or instead of
lunch.

‘Traditional’ snacks
remain popular despite new ‘healthy’ versions

Savoury snack manufacturers
are trying to shake off the ‘junk food’ image by marketing low-fat products
made by baking rather than frying, or made with the fat substitute Olestra.
KP McVities’ Go Ahead! Crinklins, Procter & Gamble’s Pringles Fat Free and
Unichips’ range of olive oil fried Pai crisps were some of the brands launched
with the ‘healthy’ tag. At the same time, the preference for trading up and
indulgent purchasing, aided by the favourable macro-economic climate, spurred
consumer interest in full flavour products, which benefited traditional full-fat
products in the chips/crisps and extruded snacks sectors. This ‘win-win’ situation
for snacks companies may have contributed to per capita consumption levels in
Germany and Britain increasing by 15.3% and 15.5% respectively in volume terms.

Extruded snacks sector
performs better than crisps

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

With positive growth in
six of the seven markets, extruded snacks and “others” were perhaps
the strongest performers from 1994 to 1998. In France, Germany, Japan, Spain
and the UK, extruded snacks outperformed the market as a whole over the review
period. However, volume sales of other savoury snacks also outperformed the
market as a whole between 1994 and 1998 in France, Italy, Spain, the UK and
the US. The highest volume growth rate was recorded by the “others”
sector in Spain, with 50.7% and where corn snacks and pork scratchings are very
popular.

See Also:

Volume Sales of Savoury
Snacks by Sector and by Country: % Growth 1994/1998

% volume
growth
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Spain
UK
US
Chips/crisps
2.0
17.1
-5.0
0.2
11.4
6.4
13.6
Extruded
snacks
10.2
38.5
-3.2
1.4
34.7
35.0
3.9
Nuts
-1.9
7.8
10.1
-3.2
50.1
2.4
8.5
Others
42.5
5.5
2.7
-6.0
50.7
41.4
11.2
TOTAL
2.7
16.2
-1.6
0.7
23.3
16.8
9.2

Source: Euromonitor Market
Direction

A mixed bag in terms
of future growth

Euromonitor International
forecasts a wide range of volume growth for the savoury snacks market, with
relatively healthy growth of 23.7% anticipated in the UK, but negligible growth
of 1.3% forecast for Japan. The UK, Spain and Italy are forecast to be the only
key markets to experience volume growth which exceeds real value growth over
the period 1998-2003.