When it comes to snack and bakery products that feature dairy ingredients, consumers are demanding flavor innovations, as well as clean label and environmentally friendly dynamics.
January is quickly drawing to a close, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to look at a few trends that are expected to shape consumer behavior this year.
According to Maru/Matchbox, Toronto, sustainable products that were once considered premium are being pushed into the mainstream as consumers become more invested in the environmental and humanitarian implications of their food choices.
Milk, cheese and eggs are dietary staples. In the U.S., on average, we consume 36.6 pounds of cheese, 268 eggs and 18 gallons of milk per person each year, according to the USDA Economic Research Service. From 2014–16, the consumption of eggs grew 1.9 percent and the consumption of cheese grew almost 6.5 percent.
The following survey statistics of U.S. and U.K. consumers support the prediction: 4 in 10 increased their consumption of “healthy foods”; 7 in 10 want to know and understand the ingredient list; 1 in 5 in the United States are most influenced by “real” ingredients; and ethical claims on packaging are top of mind.
Sustainability—the efforts to be environmentally friendly and good stewards of the earth—is important not just among consumers, but for corporate entities, as well. While many consumers regularly make personal choices that reflect their environmental focus, they expect the companies that they patronize to do the same.
In a report released last year, market research firm Euromonitor International examined the meal replacement segment, including snack and nutritional bars. What they found was that the space is in a state of transformation.
Many, many years ago, in a neighborhood now known as Bucktown in Chicago, there was this scrawny kid trolling the streets for pop bottles. You see, back then, retailers would give two cents for every bottle. Collect six bottles and you’ve got yourself 12 cents, a virtual fortune.