What Was Once Unthinkable Is Now Reality: Hardly a Day Goes by Without a Snack
Hartman Group report finds almost half of consumers say that typically they can’t get through the day without a snack.
Bellevue, WA – Snacking is dominating the eating behaviors of America’s consumers, and consequently how we go about planning, acquiring and consuming food has been disrupted, according to The Hartman Group, the foremost authority on food and beverage culture, consumer behaviors and trends.
The result of this disruption has been in many cases the displacement of meals and a lot of variation in when and how we eat and what gets consumed. What it means is that meals are often being replaced by snacks. The Hartman Group’s The Future of Snacking 2016 report finds 91 percent of consumers snacking multiple times throughout the day and almost half of consumers (47 percent) say “that most days they can’t get through the day without a snack.”
“The evidence is clear: snacking is integral to daily eating, and consumers are snacking more today than in the recent past,” said Laurie Demeritt, CEO of The Hartman Group. “In our 2016 report, we find that more than one in five consumers say that they are snacking a lot more or somewhat more often, compared to five years ago. This is a slight increase from three years earlier.”
One area of influence behind our culture's rising involvement with snacking relates to structural shifts in lifestyle, culture and values. Direct results of these shifts include: an upending of traditional, daily food and beverage rituals; change in wellness and culinary trends; and growing accessibility to increasingly diverse foods and beverages.
“The future of snacking presents multiple opportunities for companies to relate with consumers around new, flexible eating styles. With fewer cultural constraints than meals, the future of snacking will give consumers opportunities to explore new kinds of foods, beverages and brands while bending traditional eating patterns to their personal needs and wants,” said Demeritt.
About the Report
The Hartman Group’s The Future of Snacking 2016 syndicated research report distills a plethora of qualitative ethnographic and quantitative survey data on consumer snacking attitudes and behaviors into concise implications for food and beverage retailers, manufacturers and brands. The report explores the cultural and lifestyle drivers lying beneath today’s snacking behaviors to illuminate the way forward for tomorrow’s products, menu items and marketing strategies.
About The Hartman Group
The Hartman Group is at the leading edge of food and beverage strategy. The Hartman Group’s anthropologists, social scientists and business analysts have been immersed in a 25-year-long study of American food and beverage culture, using ethnographic observation, quantitative tracking surveys and deep study of food and beverage trends. What we have learned and continue to uncover allows us to upend many notions of our traditional American eating and drinking patterns, thereby identifying unique opportunities and winning strategies for our clients.
Press contact:
Blaine Becker
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