In Germany, snacks and snack time time are the new mealtime, as not only food consumed between meals, but also the meals themselves are becoming increasingly ‘snackified’.
Reasons for snacking between meals are manifold, and are influenced by all kinds of emotions as well as social and cultural habits. Healthier snacks are in demand: the focus of diet plans is shifting from the negatives of food deprivation to the positives of nutritious, balanced snacking. Increasingly replacing regular meal times in today’s fast-paced, convenience-driven society, snacking is a major consumer trend which can be considered the future of eating. Frozen snacks increasingly play into this development as well.
Changing Habits
Increasingly replacing regular meal times in today’s fast-paced, convenience-driven society, snacking is a major consumer trend which can be considered the future of eating. Although breakfast, lunch, and dinner remain important pillars, providing a basic structure to the day, they are becoming less and less rigid in terms of timing and format, as consumers increasingly fit them around their busy lifestyles, rather than the other way around. Though snacks are commonly defined as food consumed between meals, the meals themselves are thus also being increasingly “snackified”.
Changing lifestyle habits and the subsequent disintegration of traditional meals also have a strong effect on the growing market for snacking between meals. Reasons for snacking between meals are manifold, and are influenced by all kinds of emotions as well as social and cultural habits. The top driver for snacking in Germany, according to Mintel’s 2015 snacking survey, is to satisfy a craving, as specified by nearly half (46%) of respondents. However, driven by evolving lifestyle and eating habits, feeling hungry between meals (44%) ranks nearly equally as high among consumers’ top reasons for snacking. Reward-related snacking (33%) follows, while a quarter (26%) of respondents state that they snack for no particular reason. Stress, boredom and the need for an energy boost are named as reasons by one in five German consumers.
The Health Factor
While weight loss and maintenance had traditionally been associated with eating less and cutting out snacking between meals, most modern diets today allow for healthy snacks to help manage hunger and reduce bingeing at mealtimes. Increasingly, the focus of diet plans is thus shifting from the negatives of food deprivation to the positives of nutritious, balanced snacking. The key is to eat healthy, low-calorie snacks that satisfy hunger or keep cravings – the number one reason for snacking in Germany – at bay. Consumers are increasingly buying into the concept, driven by females and younger age groups. Overall, about a quarter (23%) of Germans agree that eating healthy snacks is a good way of managing weight.
The focus on health might not initially sound like a positive factor for the frozen snacking market in Germany, but compared to other mayor economies, German consumers are a lot more assured of the nutritious factors of frozen foods. While only a Quarter of Italian (27%) and Spanish (23%) consumers consider frozen foods to be as nutritious as fresh food, are a full 44% of German consumers convinced that there is no difference in nutrition between frozen and fresh foods, significantly more than 36% of French consumers and 29% of Polish consumers.
Frozen Snacks however only made up around 5% of new product launches in the year 2017, a segment dominated by frozen hors d’oeuvres, which made up 82% of frozen snack launches in 2016, followed by only 5,4 % of Fish products, and 4% of both Pizza and Fruit snacks. The Hors d’oeuvres do show a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, as there are many launches surrounding traditional Asian, South American or Mediterranean snacks and appetizers, such as spring rolls, samosas or frozen tapas. The market has not changed significantly in its proportions in the past five years, as hors d’oeuvres have always been the dominating sub-category within frozen snacks and the launch activity in the category has also been stable. Future growth in the category will likely be due to innovation in healthier snacking options. Brands and manufacturers will need to become more innovative and introduce products that satisfy both German consumers desire for healthy snacks as well as the convenience that frozen snacks offer.
Room to Grow
At the moment, launches in the category of frozen snacks and especially in the dominating segment of hors d’oeuvres do not fall into what most consumers consider nutritious, as the segment is dominated by pastry or cheese bites that can be easily prepared in the oven. However, it has to be noted that 2016 also saw some more ‘healthy’ introductions, such as prosciutto-wrapped vegetables or tomato based tapas, which will likely appeal to consumers. Growth within the larger snacking category stems in large parts from the ‘on the go’ trend, of which the frozen category so far has no part. As this segment represents a large potential, it could be worth for brands to look into innovations, that could bring the ‘on the go’ snacking trend into the frozen segment.
