Healthy snacks category still growing strong

Quick and portable health foods like snack bars, snack nuts, fruit snacks and trail mixes represent a thriving segment of the food industry, outpacing the growth of the overall food and beverage sector, according to a new report released by market research firm Packaged Facts.

In a release announcing the new report, Healthy-Ingredient Snacks in the U.S., 2nd Edition,Packaged Facts indicates that over the last five years the healthy snacks market has seen a compound annual growth rate of 4.7 per cent, and looking forward the firm projects the healthy snack segment will see increased annual growth of 5.7 per cent between 2016 and 2020.

The market research company cites a number of industry trends that are “responsible for this bullish outlook” including:

• a growing preference amongst snackers for more healthful options
• “Free from” remains a top driving trend for healthy-ingredient snack sales, with allergen- and gluten-free claims the most popular
• protein, bite-sized  snacks and innovative flavours are in demand
• more adults believe they snack healthier, and younger Americans believe they eat healthier than older adults.

The 152-page report (US$3995) analyzes healthy-ingredient snack products and sales through all channels in the U.S. market.