Category
Lifestyle
Assisted Choices
Trend cluster
Category
Dessert
Snacking
Consumers gravitate towards salty-sweet combinations in traditional snacks.
3.0
Trend score
Trend
What is the Dessert Snacking trend?
Dessert Snacking: In a continuation of the flavor fusion movement, traditional snacks such as chips and popcorn are being updated with sweet, often luxurious flavors. This move not only caters to more experiential palettes, but also signals the proliferation of dessert flavors across multiple categories. Despite the focus on health and wellness, this ultimately hints at a consumer who is willing to indulge hedonistic impulses in day-to-day life.
Trend themes
Themes within the Dessert Snacking trend
Three behaviours holding the trend together01
Salty-Sweet Flavor Fusion
Combining salty and sweet flavors in snacks is a continuing flavor fusion trend, resulting in more experiential snack options for consumers.
02
Exotic Flavor Combinations
Creating experimental and unexpected flavor combinations is a trend driving consumer interest in unique snack products.
03
Healthier Snacking
Products that appeal to health-conscious consumers, by using organic, whole-grain or nutrient-rich ingredients, are trending in the snack industry.
Industry implications
What the Dessert Snacking trend means for industry
Where the trend changes the playbookFor
Food and Beverage
Trends in snack products reflect consumer preferences for novel tastes, greater diversity of ingredients and healthier snacking options. Food and beverage companies can use these trends to develop new product lines that cater to evolving consumer tastes.
For
Marketing and Advertising
Trends in the snack industry reflect the ever-changing tastes of consumers, creating new opportunities for marketing and advertising professionals to reach target audiences with innovative campaigns that promote new product categories and flavors.
For
Packaging
As companies create new snack products to appeal to evolving consumer tastes, packaging designers have an opportunity to create packaging that reflects the product's flavor profile, ingredients and brand identity, enhancing the overall consumer experience.
Workshop question
What's a product or service in your category (not your own) that your customers adore? How could you integrate it into your own offering?
Trend signals
Trend signals for Dessert Snacking
Trend score 3.0 out of 10, from popularity 40%, activity 41%, freshness 8%.
Popularity40%
Activity41%
Freshness8%
Audience
50%Men
50%Women
- Gen Alpha (not a primary audience)
- Gen Z
- Millennial
- Gen X
- Boomer (not a primary audience)
Market
North America
Europe
Asia-Pacific
Evidence
Examples of the Dessert Snacking trend
7 featured examples from Jan 18 to Dec 6, 2016CategoryLifestyle
Cookie-Popcorn Snacks
This Hybrid Snack Combines Cookies and Popcorn
The snack food industry could benefit from innovation by tapping into consumers' evolving flavor preferences and creating intriguing snack hybrids.
CategoryLifestyle
Yogurt-Covered Butter Popcorn
This Butterkist Yogurt-Covered Popcorn is for the Experimental
The snack food industry can take advantage of the trend towards experimental flavors and create innovative products like yogurt-covered popcorn.
CategoryLifestyle
Whole Grain Popcorn Chips
The Awesome Organics Salty Sweet Kettle Chips are Crafted with Care
Disruptive innovation opportunity: Market healthier alternatives to traditional potato chips by using health-focused ingredients, appealing to consumers seeking nutritious snack o…
CategoryLifestyle
Candied Cookie Popcorn
The Pop Works Cookies & Cream Flavor Offers a Lighter Dessert Alternative
Potential for companies to develop and market healthy snacks that incorporate the sweetness of desserts, expanding offerings for consumers.
CategoryLifestyle
Cold Weather Snack Chips
The Jackson's Honest Maple Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chips are Savory
Health food companies can capitalize on consumers' desire for more nutritious snack options.
CategoryLifestyle
Spicy Chocolate Cookies
Salem Baking Co. Uses Hatch Peppers in Its Spicy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Creating innovative baked goods that incorporate spicy and sweet flavor combinations, offering consumers new taste experiences.
CategoryLifestyle
Festive Cookie-Flavored Chips
Pringles Now Come in a Sweet and Salty Sugar Cookie Flavor
The snack food industry has an opportunity to introduce unique, holiday-inspired flavors to diversify its product offerings and potentially attract new customers.
