No country in the world loves a snack like the United States. Whether due to Americans’ level of disposable income, demand for convenience, interest in meal replacements or desire to indulge in exotic flavor options at a reasonable price, the U.S. remains the globe’s single largest market for snack foods. As many consumers turn to snacks as a replacement for one or more of their daily meals, they seek healthier alternatives, such as fruit snacks, nuts, yogurt and bite-sized sweet goods that come in easy-to-carry packages to fit their on-the-go lifestyles. Since this trend is not new in America’s mature snack market, sales of packaged snacks are projected to grow just four percent through 2015. Global snack growth is an entirely different story however, as the opportunity to increase sales is better than ever.
Outside the U.S., snack foods are projected to increase seven percent annually to $334 billion (USD) by the end of 2015, according to Global Industry Analysts. Globally, regions such as the Asian-Pacific, Latin America and India offer snack and bakery food manufacturers the greatest potential for future growth. PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, recently released a study on the Bakery and Snack Market indicating that 62% of surveyed snack food companies identified the Asia-Pacific region as experiencing the largest percentage of growth for their products. To fuel this growth, many snack and bakery manufacturers are marketing to specific consumer tastes and highlighting the use of organic ingredients, fiber content, gluten-free and whole grains on their packaging.