Snacking is a growing trend and consumers are snacking more frequently. About half of today’s consumers (51 percent) say they eat snacks at least twice a day and 31 percent say they’re snacking more frequently than they were two years ago.
According to Technomic, Americans also are broadening their definition of a snack to encompass a wider range of foods and beverages.
Smoothies are they a snack or a meal? According to Vitamix and ORC International, 59 percent is snack, 25 percent is part of a meal and 18 percent meal.
“Snacking occasions represent a growth channel for restaurant operators. The retail market is aggressively promoting snacks, but there’s plenty of room for restaurants to expand their snack programs and grab share. By providing more innovative, healthy and easily portable snacks, and boosting variety, restaurants can position themselves to increase incremental traffic and sales –particularly among a younger customer base.” Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic.
In an article by WholeFoods Magazine called “Healthy Snacking on the Rise in the US” this article reports that more Americans are snacking more than ever before – but are also make smarter snacking choices. In a recent survey taken, 33% of the survey population is snacking on healthier foods than they were last year. This number has steadily risen with time, and is something that only stands to increase with nearly a third of all parents surveyed mentioning that they are serving healthier snacks to their children.
What a great opportunity for any restaurant, café, juice or smoothie bar to take advantage of this growing trend. Now more than ever it is important to offer customers what they want and that is healthier options.
The healthy trend is also dominating menus. Gone are the days of serving only indulgent foods or offering calorie laden menu items. The most prominent industry buzzword over that last decade is healthy which appears in various forms on today’s menus. This change has been inspired by the growing public awareness of healthy attributes in food and consumers are leaning on restaurants to go beyond adding a side salad to create a healthy meal.
