MUMBAI: Some habits that got triggered by the pandemic have stuck with consumers. Snacking as a trend continues to grow and evolve as eight in 10 (83%) Indians say they eat different snacks today as compared to what they consumed three years ago.
An annual survey by The Harris Poll for Mondelez, covering over 250 in India, found that the same number of consumers ‘imagine there will be more snack options to choose from in the next three years’. As 74% prefer to eat many small meals throughout the day, as opposed to a few large ones, some meals too are getting replaced by snacking. Consumers said they are looking for snacks to improve emotional, mental & physical health.
Mondelez India VP (marketing) Anil Viswanathan told TOI, “What we first observed was the broader trend around the dependence going down on the three square meals of the day with people wanting to snack more often. Post-pandemic, when work shifted to consumers’ homes, they began to snack more as they didn’t have the time to cook a meal for themselves in the afternoons. Consumers then came back and said snacking is actually playing a good role in their life – it was not just a transactional occasion – it was actually helping them cope, reset and helping them connect. Snacking then began to take more meaning than we had anticipated through covidand that’s what has manifested also in the way we saw our business bounce back through 2020 and 2021.”
Consumers have also attributed some of the snacking evolution to life stage, as 81% said ‘snacks have served different purposes for me at different phases of my life’.
An annual survey by The Harris Poll for Mondelez, covering over 250 in India, found that the same number of consumers ‘imagine there will be more snack options to choose from in the next three years’. As 74% prefer to eat many small meals throughout the day, as opposed to a few large ones, some meals too are getting replaced by snacking. Consumers said they are looking for snacks to improve emotional, mental & physical health.
Mondelez India VP (marketing) Anil Viswanathan told TOI, “What we first observed was the broader trend around the dependence going down on the three square meals of the day with people wanting to snack more often. Post-pandemic, when work shifted to consumers’ homes, they began to snack more as they didn’t have the time to cook a meal for themselves in the afternoons. Consumers then came back and said snacking is actually playing a good role in their life – it was not just a transactional occasion – it was actually helping them cope, reset and helping them connect. Snacking then began to take more meaning than we had anticipated through covidand that’s what has manifested also in the way we saw our business bounce back through 2020 and 2021.”
Consumers have also attributed some of the snacking evolution to life stage, as 81% said ‘snacks have served different purposes for me at different phases of my life’.
,