03.31.2010

“HartBeat” is The Hartman Group's FREE online newsletter, providing insight, analysis, information and strategy to give business leaders the knowledge and vision to build sustainable brands.

Test spot

Archives »
Click here for an archive of past HartBeat articles

FOLLOW US

Comment »

Print »

E-mail »

Subscribe »

Share »

• digg
• del.icio.us
• facebook
• Linked in
• newsvine
• reddit
• twitter
• friendfeed
• StumbleUpon

E-mail:

Message:

Please write the image text in the given input box:

[ Different Image ]

Cultural Occasions for Snacking

Snacking, Not Just for Kids Anymore

Does anyone remember when moms used to sing folksy jingles about what happens to little boys who "stick their hands in the cookie jar" – a reminder that snacking is a rare treat, not a right, let alone a necessity? This must seem pretty quaint to most of us, because...well it is. Although, not long ago, snacks in America were once a "treat" to be enjoyed rarely as an indulgence, today, snacking is no longer reserved only for kids and even is considered part of being a “responsible adult.” After all, if you run out of energy at 4PM and lose focus and sound like a blithering fool in your next team meeting, the reason is that you failed to snack properly.

If you don’t believe us, look to the federal government for the latest, very-hard-to-collect-anywhere-else findings:

Between 1977 and 2002, the percent of the American population eating three or more snacks a day increased to 42 percent from 11 percent. (Source: USDA and DHHS joint study)

Part of this enormous shift has to do with a more positive view of in-between meal eating, an adaptation to lifestyles in which daily meal-crafting is often impractical. It is also an extension of our American obsession with self-improvement. If being hungry lowers productivity and enjoyment of life, then hunger must be banished. And, the only way to get through the day without feeling hungry is to snack. The food industry itself rushed to meet this emerging cultural need to banish hunger from our everyday lives and has supported the virtual ubiquity of snackable foods in modern America.

Because snacking is so individually driven, so critical to our self-assessment, the list of snack occasions has grown considerably. There are now at least five distinct between-meal snacking day parts that we can model and measure significant patterned snacking behavior around.

• Early morning
• Morning
• Afternoon
• After dinner
• Late night

When snacking was rare, the phrase referred to specific kinds of food. Today, virtually any food or beverage product can become a snack. Snacking is not about types of food, but how that food is consumed. The word "snack" has been broadened to include much more than the traditional "sweets" or "salty" crackers. Now, even a slice of pizza or a smoothie in between meals might be described as a "snack." While a "meal" still requires "chewing," a "snack" no longer does. Although, occasionally, one individual may decide that your product fits a specific occasion and consume it only then, what about the thousands of others? A sky high, aggregate view of food and beverage products would make it apparent how easily the same product moves in and out of snack occasions and in and out of the fluid "snack" category altogether.

The implication, here, is that that marketers may find their view of their food or beverage is much narrower than that of its consumers. The very same food product may function as an in-between-meal "snack" one day, as lunch the next and as an afternoon munchie the following day.

Importantly, the fact that your product may be a meal component one day and a snack the next is not harmful confusion, but rather a beneficial ambiguity. It extends the social life of your product and brand, expanding the usefulness of it in your consumers' everyday lives.

Some of the most interesting incremental growth opportunities lie in the snacking margins of our everyday food culture.

Comment »

Culture of Food Model in Action...Let us Build your World of Occasions

If you are in the food and beverage business, you need to know about The World of Occasions

Visit our website: occasionbasedmarketing.com

Related articles:

Culture of Food: Zones of Quality

Snacking Our Way Through the Day: Food Culture in America