The snacking category is expanding its footprint, evolving into a mega trend for the food industry as it already reaches a turnover of 2 billion euros.
The average annual growth in the period 2021-2024 confirmed the new trends: sustainability, plant-based nutrition, mental and physical health, wellness, increased protein intake, which were (re)born during the crisis and grew during the Covid years. The category is going through a golden period where traditional brands and categories are moving hand in hand with new-joiners and innovative products, attracting both consumer and investment interest.
As stated by Vangelis Foskolos, Head of Retail Sales at Circana, speaking to “N”, “dietary trends and choices are now fundamentally shaping consumer behavior and purchasing demand, constituting a lever for innovation and a guide for new launches. Snacking is the strongest trend of recent years and a market that as a whole is growing over time. And this does not also concern the traditional categories that we would have thought of 10 years ago with sweet and salty ‘sins’. Now, we are referring to an expanded range of products that accompany us all day long, at breakfast, at work, at the gym, in the evening in front of the screen. We consume them on the road and in the car, at the office and on the couch.”
Based on Circana’s measurements, 28 snacks generated revenue of 2.024 billion euros in supermarkets nationwide in 2024. More specifically, refrigerated protein desserts have emerged as a success story in the four-year period 2021-2024 with an average annual growth of 468%.
