By Leah Ash
Despite economic uncertainty, nearly half (48.8%) of consumers eat more than three snacks a day, an increase of 2.7 percentage points compared to 2024, reported Sally Lyons Wyatt, EVP and global advisor of CPG and foodservice at Circana at the National Confectioner Associations’ 2025 Sweets & Snacks Expo.
However, she noted that what consumers are snacking on continues to evolve based on needs, trends and variety. Snack categories that showed an increase in dollars, units and volume in 2024 were potato chips, cookies, yogurt, tortilla/tostada chips, frozen novelties, ice cream, dried meat snacks, nutritional/intrinsic health bars and frozen handheld dinners/entrees.
As consumers snack, they are looking for value. Club, dollar stores and online shopping have seen the greatest growth in dollar and unit compared to their year over year average, with online seeing a 15.0% in unit sales. Wyatt noted that online is a go-to for both core and expanded snack purchases due to price surfing and convenience: 49.9% of consumers said they have bought snacks online.
But value doesn’t just mean price: 68.8% of consumers said they purchase premium snacks (quality and/or flavors) and 61.5% of consumers stated that premium snacks are worth paying extra for. Other value offerings consumers are interested in are snacks that can be eaten on the go or snacks that can replace a meal.
Tamara Barnett, senior vice president—strategic insights, The Hartman Group, said during a Sweets & Snacks Show education session titled “Snacking in 2025 and Beyond” that meals are becoming “snackier,” with 76% of consumers reporting that they sometimes replace their meals with snacks. Additionally, the data shows that “over the last four years of data, across all meal occasions, they’ve dipped a little bit. Breakfast has declined about 5%, lunch the same, and dinner, probably the most resilient of all the dayparts, dipped around 2%.”
Barnett also reported that Gen Z and Millennials over-index in their snacking participation. But they seem to be snacking in two different ways. Millennials seem to be “reconsolidating some of that [early morning and midmorning snacking] into meals.” Meanwhile, Gen Z has doubled down on snacking, increasing their snacking in the midmorning period.
When it comes to what consumers need and want, Wyatt and Barnett mentioned the desire for snacks that benefit a consumer’s health and wellness. Circana data shows that 64.1% of consumers actively seek snacks that are good for them, and that consumers are buying products with claims aligned to protein, sweetener, vegan and oil type.
Barnett noted that interest in fresh, high-quality and minimally processed snacks has grown, and that “snacks are evaluated for what they add, but they’re also looking for what’s not there.” 59% of consumers pay attention to the amount of sugar in snacks they consume.
NACS Magazine featured the salty snack category in its October issue. Read “Tried and True” to discover tips and trends.