Getting three square meals a day has become, well, a bit square. Hectic schedules, commutes, conflicting family schedules, pressing to-do lists and ever-buzzing phones have most consumers too busy to eat, let alone cook. But thanks to the explosion of convenient, snack-able foods, no one has to choose between eating and making a deadline.
In the past 24 hours, 92% of adults in the U.S. have had a snack, according to The Hartman Group’s “Modern Eating: Cultural Roots, Daily Behaviors” report. With percentages like that it’s no surprise that Nielsen’s “Snack Attack” global snacking survey reported that there was $374 billion in annual global snack sales ending in March 2014. And consumers aren’t sticking to the same set of snack foods they’ve eaten for decades. They want new, innovative and different snacks, which is why, according to FONA International, 6,010 new snack products have launched in North American between January 2010 and August 2014.