Top 5 Nutrition Bar Insights

Europe, Middle East and Africa are among the fastest growing bar markets with sales of almost €3 billion by 2020.¹ 'High-protein’ continues to dominate and is amongst the top three claims made by snack bars globally.²

1. Feel Good Bars

34% of consumers agree that mental wellbeing is more important than physical wellness.³ 40% of consumers of consumers agree that food with added functional health claims help them to follow a healthier.⁴ There are opportunities for bar formulation recipes that are linked with supporting mental, as well as physical, health needs: Gut Health Boosting Your Mood or Improving Mental Wellbeing Align with Consumers’ Self-Care Trends

There are opportunities for bar formulation recipes that are linked with supporting mental, as well as physical, health needs:

• Gut Health
• Boosting Your Mood or Improving Mental Wellbeing
• Align with Consumers’ Self-Care Trends

2. Your Bar and Packaging Need to be “Instagrammable”

Mintel's food & drink trend new sensations reviews the top three ways to engage the senses and deliver share-worthy experiences.

Taste

Sweet, savory, sour, bitter, umami: snacks that deliver on flavour always win.⁵

Colours

The use of colourful ingredients such as vegetables or fruits continues to provide something to Instagram about. Snacks that are bright, with contrasting or ombre colours, are getting more attention.⁵

Texture

New snacks and confectionery that leverage crunchy, creamy, pulpy, foamy, crispy and other textural experiences provide another layer of interest.⁵

How Shareable is Your New Bar?

• Will it stand out from the crowd on Instagram?
• Will it feature on Pinterest?

3. Keep it Simple

Consumer perception of cereal/snack/energy bars.

Spain

61% of Spanish consumers say that bars with natural ingredients are worth paying more for.⁶

France

55% of French consumers say they are too processed.⁶

Italy

43% of Italian consumers believe that low/no added sugar is an important factor when purchasing.⁶

4. Conscious Consumer

Sustainability

Sustainability is a long-term trend that continues to permeate consumer consciousness. However, many consumers struggle to know how ethical a company truly is, reflecting the need for increased transparency beyond simple packaging claims.

Ethical Claims

There is reason to believe that ethical claims on food are likely to give consumers the impression that the products are of better nutritional value, of higher quality and worth paying more for. This means that Moral Brands not only benefit from the long-term move towards environmental/ethical behaviour, but can also ride on the back of healthy eating trends.

5. Treat Yourself

There is a growing need for convenient, on-the-go products which bridge the gap between health and convenience.

Smaller-Sized Alternatives

Smaller alternatives are becoming more popular providing gourmet-style indulgence without the same guilt over calories or sugar content as more sizable products.

One Third

Less than a third of snackers agree that “the majority of the snacks” they consume are healthy which suggests that there is a lot of room for balancing healthy and unhealthy snacks.⁹

Learn more about our bar solutions.

References

1. Mordor Intelligence, European Snack Bar Market, March, 2018
2. Mintel, Future of Cereal’ Energy & Snack Bars, December, 2018
3. Lightspeed/Mintel, 2018 Base : 2,000 internet users aged 16+
4. Lightspeed/Mintel, 2019 Base : 2,000 internet users aged 16+
5. Mintel, Six Trends Snack Manufacturers Need to Know Right Now, May, 2019
6. Lightspeed/Mintel, 2019 Base : 1,610 internet users aged 16+
7. Mintel Global New Product Database, 2019
8. Innova New Products Database, 2018
9. Lightspeed/Mintel, 2019 Base : 1899 internet users aged 18+