Mondelēz International has launched its first-ever State of Snacking report, a global consumer trends study examining the role snacking plays across the world in meeting consumers’ evolving needs: busy modern lifestyles, the growing desire for community connection and a more holistic sense of wellbeing. The study reveals the rise of global snacking, underscored by regional parallels demonstrating how snacks are helping lead the future of food by delivering on the spectrum of needs that exists in our day-to-day lives.

The State of Snacking report, developed in partnership with consumer polling specialist, The Harris Poll, complements Mondelēz International’s global snacking knowledge estate with new research conducted among thousands of consumers across twelve countries. The report sheds light on snacking as a growing behaviour worldwide. Notably six in 10 adults worldwide (59 percent) say they prefer to eat many small meals throughout the day, as opposed to a few larger ones, with younger consumers especially leaning into snacks over meals as that number rises to seven in 10 among Millennials (70 percent).

“As the snacking market continues to grow globally, we’re living our purpose to empower people to snack right by constantly learning about how consumers around the world are snacking and their relationship with food,” said Dirk Van de Put, Chairman and CEO of Mondelēz International. “Consumers should not have to choose between snacking and eating right, or to worry about the impact their choices have on the world and their communities.”

Touching on developing markets, Maurizio Brusadelli, EVP and President AMEA Mondelēz International, shared that, “Developing markets are leading the growth of snacking trends, with 72 percent growth in developing markets compared to 49 percent in developed markets. And, consumers in these markets are especially likely to seek holistic snacks that are supportive of gut health, brain-boosting and mood-enhancing. Insights like this and understanding of what drives snacking habits enables us to evolve our portfolio to offer consumers the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way.”

Key findings from the 2019 State of Snacking report, which is available for download at www.stateofsnacking.com, include:

Our relationship with food is fundamentally changing.

• For consumers around the world, the role food plays in health and wellbeing is increasingly top of mind; people are more commonly considering how smaller bites – snacks – effect their emotional wellbeing, as well as their physical health.
  • For more than eight in 10 people, convenience (87 percent) and quality (85 percent) are among the top factors impacting snack choice.
  • Convenience is a functional motivation for snacking in AMEA markets of Indonesia, China, Australia and India.
  • 80 percent of consumers are looking for healthy, balanced bites.
• However, moments of indulgence continue to have an important place in daily routines.
  • 80 percent of adults worldwide acknowledge the need for balance by appreciating the option of both healthy and indulgent snacks depending on the moment of need.
  • 76 percent of snackers in the developing world say, “Snacking helps me meet my nutritional needs for the day”, compared to 56 percent of snackers worldwide.

More people snack than eat full meals today.

• Snacking is on the rise, especially in developing countries.
  • Seven in 10 Millennials prefer small bites over meals, but Centennials snack more times a day than anyone else.
  • 76 percent of adults surveyed in AMEA look for portion control snacks vs 55 percent in Europe.
  • In AMEA, consumers are most likely to snack in the morning. Latin Americans tend to be afternoon snackers. North Americans prefer smaller bites in the evening. And, Europeans tend to snack throughout the day, peaking in the afternoon.

Snacking is about so much more than what we eat.

• Snacking is a key way for people around the world to connect to their culture and share their sense of identity with their communities and families (58 percent).
  • In developing markets, snacking is an integral part of culture and key point of cultural identity: 83 percent of Indonesian and 75 percent of Chinese consumers surveyed say “I connect with my culture through the snacks I eat” vs 58 percent of global adults.
• More than eight in 10 parents use snack time as a small way to connect with their children (82 percent).
  • 76 percent of parents use snacks to pass cultural snacking rituals on to their children.
  • More than three out of four parents (78 percent) say the snacks they choose for their children reflect who they are as a parent.

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