Currently browsing posts about: Snacks

I am indebted to Bakery&Snacks, a newsletter I subscribe to, for this unusully enlightening report.

The science of sound: What is it about the crunch that keeps snackers dipping in for more?  The sound of snacking is surprisingly important and impacts the multisensory experience that is so linked to the overall pleasure and satisfaction. From the Crunch Effect to the influence of onomatopoeias, it’s an enlightening subject that no product developer or marketer should ignore…. Read more

I always knew that tons of research went into developing snack foods, but was not aware that the “sound of snacking” mattered so much to sales.

The research demonstrates:

• People eat more pretzels if background noise cancels out the sounds of eating them (this is why restaurants are so noisy?).
• Crisp products produce higher pitched sounds; people wearing headphones eat less.
• Crunching sounds stimulate eating.

Here we have science devoted to pushing snack foods.

The study of chewing sounds involves a lot more than just the crispiness, crunchy or freshness of a product and the consumer’s perception.  It’s a science that involves knowing how the characteristics of the jaw, teeth and soft tissues in the mouth influence the perceived sounds, specifically the bone-conducted sound travelling through the teeth and jaws to the ear*. Then there’s the contribution of air and bone conduction, the number of sound bursts in a bite or chew, the frequency and pressure level and…it gets very complex and scientific.

Snacks, alas, are largely ultra-processed and sources of calories, lots of them (the more snacks, the more calories).

But look at the research, courtesy of this article.  Impressive, no?

• The crunch effect: Food sound salience as a consumption monitoring cue.  Ryan S Elder, Gina S Mohr. Food Quality and Preference 2016, 16(39-46); doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2016.02.015
• Spectral composition of eating sounds generated by crispy, crunchy and crackly foods.  C Dacremont. Journal of Texture Studies (1995) 26(1); doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-4603.1995.tb00782.x
• Analysis of food crushing sounds during mastication: total sound level studies. WE Lee III, MA Schwitzer, GM Morgan, DC Shepherd.  Journal of Texture Studies (1999) 21(2); doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-4603.1990.tb00473.x
• Sound: The Forgotten Flavor Sense.  Editors: Betina Piqueras-Fiszman, Charles Spence.  Multisensory Flavor Perception (2016) 81-105; doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100350-3.00005-5
• The role of auditory cues in modulating the perceived crispness and staleness of potato chips.   Massimiliano Zampini, Charles SpendFebruary 2005.  Journal of Sensory Studies (2005) 19(5) 347-363, doi:10.1111/j.1745-459x.2004.080403.x
• Figurative Language in Snack Advertising Slogan.  Hosana S. Juanda, A. SupriadiInternational Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation (2022), 5(12); doi.org/10.32996/ijllt.2022.5.12.15
• Crispness, the Key for the Palatability of “Kakinotane”: A Sensory Study with Onomatopoeic Words. Atsuhiro Saita, Kosuke Yamamoto, Alexander Raevskiy, et al.  Foods 2021, 10(8), 1724; doi.org/10.3390/foods10081724\n”,

My distant but dearly loved cousin, Michael Kravit, has scored again: “Not Healthy.”

According to the company’s website, these things are “Tasty purffs.  Five flavors.  No health claims…So unhealthy, I bought 15 bags for my family and friends…If you are worried about FFUPs being healthy, you’re on the wrong website.  Go eat some carrots! [Not a bad idea, this last one].

I managed to find the Nutrition Facts for one of them.  They have a lot of salt—320 mg per ounce.  The ingredient list:

Besides salty, how do these things taste?  If you can find some, please let me know.

While we are at it, my daughter sent this photo from the new It’s Sugar store on Market Street in San Francisco.

OK.  Let’s give these companies high marks for truth in advertising.  But do these represent the latest trend?

Caveat emptor.

Oh no!  US Snack Index reveals consumers’ fear of running out of snacks during the Super Bowl

This has to be a commentary on where we are as a food nation.

This survey of Super Bowl fans found that a whopping 49% “would rather see their team lose than have to sit through the game without snacks.”

OK.  The survey was conducted by Frito-Lay, a not exactly disinterested observer, but still.

It makes clear that the Super Bowl is only peripherally about sports.  It is about eating junk food.

You don’t believe me?  Try:

• Super Bowl foods better than a touchdown
• 7% of all chicken wings are consumed during the Super Bowl: 1.42 billion
• So are 300 million gallons of beer, 28 million pounds of chips
• 139.4 million pounds of avocados, 3.8 Million Pounds of popcorn

As for Super Bowl food politics, try getting your head around the danger Mexican truckers face bringing avocados North for your guacamole.

Enjoy the game!

*******

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The best way to add unnecessary calories to your diet is to snack.

Snacks are often ultra-processed junk foods; they add calories in ways you don’t notice (“you can’t eat just one”).

Their sellers’ intention is to get you to eat them and not notice.  These are hugely profitable products.

Here are a few recent items about selling snack products.

Will eating “healthier” snacks help you avoid “Covibesity” [referring to pandemic weight gain, I guess]?  Not if they encourage you to take in more calories than you need.

Will eating sustainable snacks make you healthier?  I got an e-mail from a marketer at Mondelez telling me that the company is focusing on sustainable snacks and that a “Mondelez exec also just made presentation at Alliance Bernstein conf. where he discussed there will be more invest in digital marketing personalization to drive sales” [Sustainable snacks have calories, and increased sales mean increased calories].

How about starting your snacks in the morning?  Hershey, America’s largest confection company, is trying to gain market share by rolling out products designed for morning consumption. “We see this as a potential growth lever and way for us to potentially capture more total snacking occasions across all dayparts,” In a press release, the company declared, “Let’s face it, we’re already having morning dessert anyway, so the Reese’s brand decided to make it official. With new Reese’s Snack Cakes, Reese’s fans can enjoy a delicious combination of chocolate and peanut butter creme without having to wait until lunch.”

Or, you can just eat candied cereal:

Here are a few examples of the latest trends in snack products in the U.S. and Europe, culled from articles in FoodNavigator.com.  The purpose of these products is to make money for their manufacturers, the more the better.

Lots of interest in insects and worms these days….

• Bugs are big business for tomorrow’s snacks, says PepsiCo; calls for ideas: The Doritos and Cheetos maker is capitalizing on the growing insect and plant-based protein trend, and has called for novel protein ideas to use in its snacks. Read more
•  NPD trend tracker: Insect snacks, fruit desserts and soft Skittles: UK retailer Sainsbury’s creates a buzz with beer snack bugs, French jam brand Bonne Maman moves into the chilled dessert category and Mars France removes Skittles’ crunchy coating. Here is our round-up of some of Europe’s most interesting recent product launches. Read more
• NPD trend tracker: Plant-based fish, buckwheat biscuits and convenient cups: US brand Loma Linda debuts in the UK with a range of products including a seafood-free tuna alternative (‘Tuno’); the importance of on-the-go and convenience trends is evident in Euryza’s new range of rice cups in Germany; while the ‘craft’ craze continues to sweep France with the introduction of buckwheat biscuits. Here is FoodNavigator’s weekly round-up of some of the most interesting product launches to hit Europe. Read more
•  New product trend tracker: From the ‘biggest’ pig in a blanket to consumer-designed chocolate: This week’s round up of some of the most interesting products rolling out across Europe gets festive with the ‘biggest’ pig in a blanket available in the UK this Christmas. We also hear from crowd-sourced innovation platform C’est Qui Le Patron, while Nestle launches more ruby chocolate products. Read more
•  NPD trend tracker: From worm bars to ‘healthy’ confectionery balls: The latest products hitting the shelves in Europe reflect the concerns of an increasingly adventurous consumer base. Recent introductions range from celebrity-backed protein bars made from worms to better-for-you confectionery balls that are made without added sugar. Read more

Yum (?)

While Brexit—Britain’s leaving of the European Union—is in turmoil, the industry newsletter, BakeryAndSnacks.com has a few articles on its effects on this industry.  Complicated, no?

• Brexit: ‘If the worst case scenario happens the UK will make ‘No deal’ and will have to trade on WTO terms’: If the worst case scenario happens in Brexit negotiations the UK will make ‘No deal’ and will have to trade on WTO (World Trade Organization) terms, the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations, says Baker Botts. Read more
• Have your cake and eat it: The Brexit effect on bakery and snacks: BakeryandSnacks asked exhibitors at ife 2017, held in London at the beginning of March, what effects Brexit may have on their companies. Read more
• Fewer biscuits for your buck thanks to Brexit: McVitie’s to shrink packet size: Pladis UK has announced it is reducing the size of the McVities Digestive biscuit pack, thanks to a weak sterling following Brexit. Read more
• Beyond Brexit: Five legal issues UK food firms need to protect against in 2017: The year ahead will present UK food companies with a range of major legal challenges over and above the fallout from Brexit, according to leading food industry lawyer Peter Cusick. Read more
• Brexit and its impact on businesses to take centre stage at ECMA Congress: Brexit, the Circular Economy, plastic waste and digital technology are some of the highlights at this year’s ECMA (European Carton Makers Association) Congress. Read more

Here’s another one of FoodNavigator-USA’s collection of articles on single topics, this one on “healthy” snacks.  I’m putting “healthy” in quotes because these are all processed food products.  If you are trying to track snacking trends, here they are.

Special Edition: Healthy Snacks

Hartman Group says roughly half of the eating occasions in the US are now snacks, but if snacking is still about treating yourself, are we treating ourselves a little too much? How can manufacturers meet demand for fresher, healthier snacks that are also portable and convenient? In this FoodNavigator-USA special, we explore how manufacturers are adapting to changing eating patterns.

• Crunch time: Mushroom chip brand Mudlrk targets online retail next month: Mushroom chip brand Mudlrk (pronounced ‘mudlark’ – a term meaning a person who scavenges for objects of value) is aiming to begin online retail of its four SKUs at the end of July and hit brick & mortar stores later this year… Read

• What is a snack, and how are snacking habits evolving? Hartman Group, SnackNation, weigh in…  If roughly half of the eating occasions in the US are now snacks, are snacks still ‘treats’ or have they become something else?.. Read

• Messy Monkeys balances nutrition with affordability for US launch: Finding nutrient-dense snacks becomes more of a challenge for moms once they exit the baby aisle and right around the time ‘picky-eater syndrome’ sets in. To fill this gap, Messy Monkeys is positioning itself as an affordable and healthy snack for kids rolling out to stores this month… Read

• Ready to pig out (minus the bacon)? Outstanding Foods gears up for launch: Vegan jerky is picking up steam, but hasn’t set the world on fire, yet. And while bacon-flavored potato and corn chips are a staple in the salty snacks aisle, they don’t pretend to replicate the taste and texture of a strip of bacon. But what if you could create a plant-based snack so bacon-like that even meat lovers struggle to distinguish it from the real thing?.. Read

• Soup-to-Nuts Podcast: What is behind the overnight explosion of puffs?  Once considered simply a children’s snack that parents would sneak when no one was looking, puffs suddenly are everywhere – and for everyone – thanks to their better-for-you profile, new sophisticated flavors, increasingly diverse bases and playful shapes that encourage sharing… Listen now

• From snacks to mini meals: How consumers are satisfying their cravings: While consumers still respond to the convenience of popping open a bag of chips, their mindset around snacking has expanded to products that promise a sense culinary adventure, conscious-sourcing, unexpected ingredients, and satiating benefits… Read

• Salty snacks are evolving in the face of the better-for-you movement, Packaged Facts reports: Sales of salty snacks in the US continue to rise as consumers embrace smaller, more frequent eating occasions over three-square meals a day, but at the same time, rising health and wellness awareness is creating a significant competitive threat from better-for-you options, according to new research from Packaged Facts… Read

• Peatos exec: ‘Our mission is to make 90% of people eat 10% better, not 10% of people eat 90% better’: From roasted chickpeas and flash fried mung beans to extruded pea, chickpea, and edamame puffs, pulse-based snacks are gaining traction, says Snack it Forward CEO Nick Desai. But none of them have delivered the sheer sensory pleasure you experience from a bag of Cheetos… until now, he claims… Read

• Fresh Bar rebrands to ‘nomi’ seeking to direct families and kids to the ‘fridge instead of the pantry’: Refrigerated snack bar brand nomi, previously known as ‘Fresh Bar’, believes its new brand name will give it a strong foothold in the rapidly growing refrigerated bar space… Read

• NEW PRODUCTS GALLERY: From thinkKIDS protein bars to Teavana sparkling tea: Check out FoodNavigator-USA’s latest gallery of new products hitting US shelves, spanning new protein bars for kids and protein-packed snacks from upcycled chicken breast trim to the latest wave of reduced sugar beverages… Display