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Consumer Trends: Snacking Trends

The typical American eats over one thousand snack-oriented convenience foods throughout the year, and kids and teens are the heaviest users of this assortment of snacks, which include fresh fruit, sweet, and savory snacks, reports The NPD Group.

CHICAGO (PRWEB) — The typical American eats over one thousand snack-oriented convenience foods throughout the year, and kids and teens are the heaviest users of this assortment of snacks, which include fresh fruit, sweet, and savory snacks, reports The NPD Group, a leading global information company. Women eat, on average, 3.1 snack-oriented convenience foods a day compared to the 2.7 snacks men eat a day, according to NPD’s snacking research.

About eight of every ten in-home snack food eatings are considered to be a snack-oriented convenience food versus other foods, regardless of time of day, finds NPD’s SnackTrack®, which continually monitors the consumption of snack-oriented foods both in-home and away. During a typical year, there are over 356 billion eatings of snack-oriented convenience foods.

Among the top ten motivators for selecting a particular snack are: “like the taste,” “was hungry,” “had a craving,” “favorite snack,” and “was simple and easy to eat,” according to SnackTrack. While taste is the leading motivator across all age groups, women are more likely to select snack foods to satisfy specific expectations (i.e. chocolate, sweet, crunchy, healthy) while kids’ favorite snacks are simply fun to eat. Fresh fruit, chocolate, potato chips, cookies, and yogurt are, in rank order, the top five snack-oriented convenience foods consumed annually.

“An individual’s mood and situation has a strong effect on what will be snacked on,” says Darren Seifer, NPD food and beverage industry analyst. “Connecting your marketing messages to the emotional nature of snacking – think taste, cravings and indulgence — will help drive your product’s selection.”

About The NPD Group
The NPD Group provides global information and advisory services to drive better business decisions. By combining unique data assets with unmatched industry expertise, we help our clients track their markets, understand consumers, and drive profitable growth. Sectors covered include automotive, beauty, consumer electronics, entertainment, fashion, food / foodservice, home, luxury, mobile, office supplies, sports, technology, toys, and video games. For more information, visit http://www.npd.com and npdgroupblog.com. Follow us on Twitter: @npdgroup.