Little Foods—Big Potential

A mid-morning bite, an afternoon nibble, an evening nosh—there’s a lot of room on the daily dining menu for a snack.

Most experts say snacking now accounts for about 20% of Americans’ total eating occasions. “Everything we see is that snacking and the purchase of snack-sized food items is up,” says Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president for foodservice strategies, WD Partners, “and it’s expected to continue to go up.” He credits several long-term trends, including the aging of the boomer generation and its commensurate demand for smaller helpings, and a staggering economy that has people looking for less-expensive snack items.

Harry Balzer, vice president, NPD group, says Americans aren’t actually snacking any more than they were a generation ago, but that people are feeding their snack needs in restaurants. “Total snacking hasn’t moved one inch over the last generation,” he says, while agreeing that snacking accounts for about 20% of our total eating occasions.

A recent report from Gilroy Foods & Flavors, “Food & FlavorCast™: Snacking and Beyond in 2009,” says that snacking will increase 14% by 2017, with Americans poised to consume more than 4.3 billion pounds of snack foods annually. “More than 90% of Americans snack daily ... Now, instead of being the bridge that satiates us between meals, snacks are practically replacing them,” notes the report, calling snacking “a veritable sea of change in the way Americans eat—and in the way foodservice operators and manufacturers feed them.”

Balzer says that what has really changed is how people snack. He sees a small shift toward snacking in restaurants, especially during the mid-morning hours. “In a very weak environment ... that morning time, whether it’s breakfast or that A.M. snack, is holding a lot better than the other occasions,” he says.

Balzer adds that what appears to be an upswing in snacking represents, in part, a crowding-out effect, with people snacking instead of eating regular daypart meals, and partly the effect of restaurants that are open during snack-time hours taking business away from restaurants that are not.

Nevertheless, according to Balzer, “the talk about snacking is more a reflection of people looking for portion control and a lower price point. What’s the easiest way for me to eat without having to cook and controlling my food cost?” The most-important shifts, he notes, are in the foods being offered as snacks and in the time of day we snack.

“We now have mid-morning snack, and afternoon snack and evening snack as three other dayparts that restaurants are starting to focus on,” says Lombardi, who believes the late-evening snack holds the greatest potential.

Regardless, morning, noon or night, snacking is on the rise.

PICKIN’ CHICKEN

Chicken is the most-popular protein in snacks, according to both Lombardi and the Mintel Menu Insights May 2008 “Snack Attack” report. Mintel finds that chicken grew 67% over the past year and “holds a commanding lead as the top snack ingredient, with over 50% more incidences than the next most-common ingredient. Lettuce, cheese, potatoes and fries follow with a 40%, 56%, 44% and 57% growth, respectively.”