Market Trends of Asia Pacific Snack Food Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the APAC Snack Food Market according to our research experts:
The Demand for Convenient and Healthy On-the-go Snacks
On-the-go snacking has become extremely popular, especially among working-class people, teenage children, people living in hostels, and bachelors due to their hectic lifestyles. Moreover, the on-the-go snacking concept is closely associated with easy consumption and handling of products, which is offered by frozen snacks, bakery snacks, savory snacks, and confectionery snacks. Many meal replacement snacks and specific calorie-focused snacks are gaining huge popularity among consumers. Further, emerging concepts like organic food and veganism have strengthened the snack food market growth in the region. As a result, industry participants are keen on launching healthy and nutritious rich snacks to meet consumer needs. For instance, in 2022, Plix, India's D2C plant-based wellness and nutrition brand, unveiled its first-ever 100% plant-based snackable functional foods in India.
Additionally, increasing participation in fitness and sports activities has promoted the consumption of snack bars that support protein and mineral intake. Key companies are launching energy bars, cereal bars, and nut-based snack bars formulated with good-for-you ingredients like chia, quinoa, flax, spirulina, and hemp to cater to shifts in consumer preferences.
High Consumption of Savory Snacks
The presence of multiple brands and players catering to various portfolios of products, like nuts, seeds, trail mixes, potato chips, tortilla chips, puffed chips, savory biscuits, popcorn, and pretzels, made this segment a highly competitive one. Moreover, key brands are offering healthy versions, containing lower sodium and fat levels to target health-conscious consumers. Flavored nuts and seeds such as roasted and salted peanuts, spicy cashews, and tangy-flavored almonds are gaining popularity among millennial consumers due to their versatility and superior nutritional profiles. Further, the ongoing progress in extrusion technology enables various ingredients to transform into puffed, flaked, and other forms of snacking options. The wide range of flavors that can be incorporated into final products further strengthens its market sentiments. Flavored potato chips and popcorn are appearing to be the widely consumed savory snack in countries such as India and China as brands are catering to varying taste preferences of different age groups through differentiated flavors such as salt-pepper, cheese-based powder, butter-roasted, garlic powder, onion spiced, etc.
