Table of Contents
Overview
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- What you need to know
- Covered in this Report
Executive Summary
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- The market
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- Figure 1: Best- and worst-case forecast of retail sales of major snack categories, China 2012-22
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- Figure 2: Retail sales value of major snack categories, China, 2013-17
- Competition and Innovation
- The consumer
- Snacks becomes an antidote to a stressed life
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- Figure 3: Snacking occasions in the last six months, September 2017
- A variety of choices, though crisps still come top of mind
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- Figure 4: Types of snack eaten most often in the past month, word cloud of mentions over 1%, September 2017
- Play on the ingredient perception
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- Figure 5: Attributes associated with each type of snack, September 2017
- Make people feel intrigued or ‘in the know’
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- Figure 6: Reasons for buying a new snack, September 2017
- Different products to target different occasions
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- Figure 7: Correspondence analysis – Snack needs by occasion, September 2017
- A missed opportunity in the market
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Flavour creates demand, even for not so good-for-you snacks
- The facts
- The implications
- How brands can give snacks a more artisanal look and feel?
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 8: Positive craft CSD attributes, US, March 2015
- Which groups of consumers snack most and least?
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- Figure 9: No. of occasions that consumers have snacked in the past six months, by self-label, September 2017
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- Figure 10: Attitudes towards snacking, by selected self-label, September 2017
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- About 13% of consumer spending on food go to snacks
- Winners are not all the healthier categories
- Snacking becomes a ‘healing’ for stressed consumers
Market Size, Segment and Forecast
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- Snacks taking a bigger share of consumer food spending
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- Figure 11: Share of consumer snack spending in total in-home food, China, 2013-17
- Leading categories remain the same
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- Figure 12: Retail sales value of major snack categories, China, 2013-17
- Winners are not only the healthier categories
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- Figure 13: Growth rates of major snack categories, China, 2013-17
- Looking ahead to the next five years
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- Figure 14: Best- and worst-case forecast of retail sales of major snack categories, China 2012-22
Market Factors
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- Snacking becomes a ‘healing’ aid for stressed consumers
- Permissible indulgence changes how people snack
- Snacks and meals are blurring
- Food delivery service may change the competition in the long term
- Consumers’ collective intelligence influences what to buy
Key Players – What You Need to Know
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- Local e-commerce brands continue strong growth
- BFY snacks remain niche in China
- Worth-knowing trends
Competitive Strategies
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- Local brand strength
- A comprehensive product portfolio
- Quick action on new ideas, good at creating super sales
- Consumer engagement: from value added-services to an emotional bonding
- How far can brands push the flavour boundary?
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- Figure 15: Selected user comment on Snickers spicy peanut chocolate bar, 2017
Who’s Innovating?
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- The big picture view
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- Figure 16: New product launch by category, China 2015-17
- Figure 17: New product launch in salty snacks, by sub-category, China 2015-17
- Noteworthy trends in claims
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- Figure 18: Share of BFY claims in new snack launch, China vs global 2015-17
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- Figure 19: Top growing claims in new product launch, by category, China 2015-17
- What’s happening in China?
- Power to the plant
- Snack mixes expanding to sea food
- Giving a more artisan-feel
- Global trends that can inspire China innovation
- Rich flavours in salty snacks is making the category cool again
- More ‘platforms’: beyond potato, rice and corn
- Moment-positioned snacks
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Stress-releasing becomes one of the top five occasions for snacking
- Perceptions of healthiness and tastiness are category specific
- Social buzz has a bigger impact on young consumers and high earners
- Different snacks for different occasions
- A potential mismatch in targeting?
Trends in Snacking Occasions
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- Fewer people snack in 2017?
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- Figure 20: Snacking occasions in the last six months, September 2017
- Snacking plays a bigger role in helping people release stress
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- Figure 21: Ranking of snacking occasions in the last six months, 2017 vs 2016
Most Eaten Snacks
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- A mixture of indulgence and healthy, modern and traditional
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- Figure 22: Types of snack eat most often in the past month, word cloud of mentions over 1%, September 2017
- Worth knowing choices by segment
- Nuts and seeds
- Healthy varieties
- Traditional Chinese
- Premium selections
Perception of Different Snacks
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- Healthy and tasty can go hand-in-hand for certain types of products
- Trendy is more about the brand than the category
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- Figure 23: Attributes associated with each type of snacks, September 2017
- Young consumers are harder to please in trendiness
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- Figure 24: Average association of healthy, tasty and trendy across all product categories, by age, September 2017
Triggers of Buying a New Snack
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- Hunger for new experiences
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- Figure 25: Reasons for buying a new snack, September 2017
- Sampling becomes more powerful
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- Figure 26: Reasons for buying a new snack, % mention of sampling, 2016 vs 2017
- What drives young consumers and high earners?
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- Figure 27: Reasons for buying a new snack, by age, September 2017
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- Figure 28: Reasons for buying a new snack, by monthly personal income, September 2017
Attributes Sought for Snacking Occasions
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- Crispy and spicy are most sought for during leisure time
- Functional claims appeal to work/study occasions
- Warm and soft for mornings while fragrant for evenings
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- Figure 29: Correspondence analysis – Snack needs by occasion, September 2017
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- Figure 30: Snack needs by occasion, September 2017
- Methodology
Attitudes towards Snacking
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- Majority feel happy rather than guilty when snacking
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- Figure 31: Attitudes towards snacking, September 2017
- Who needs indulgence?
- Who needs guilt-free snacks?
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- Figure 32: Snacking habits, by attitudes towards snacking, September 2016
- A mismatch in the market?
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- Figure 33: Key demographic profile of consumer segmentation, September 2017
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- Figure 34: Snacking habits, by attitudes towards snacking, September 2016
- Trendy snack shoppers are more likely to shop online compared to conservatives
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- Figure 35: Snack purchasing habits, by different types of snack users, September 2016
Meet the Mintropolitans
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- Still snack more than Non-MinTs on all occasions
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- Figure 36: Snacking occasions in the last six months, by consumer segmentation, September 2017
- More impulsive purchases
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- Figure 37: Reasons for buying a new snack, by consumer segmentation, September 2017
- More preference for savoury, chilled and easy-to-share snacks
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- Figure 38: Gap between MinTs and non-MinTs (as benchmark) in attributes sought for when snacking, aggregate of all occasions, September 2018
Appendix – Market Size and Forecast
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- Figure 39: Retail sales of major snack categories and consumer total in-home food spending, China, 2013-17
- Figure 40: Growth rates of major snack categories, China, 2013-17
- Figure 41: Retail sales of total major snack categories, China, 2012-17
- Figure 42: Best- and worst-case forecast of retail volume sales of major snack categories, China 2012-22
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Appendix – Top Claims in New Product Launch
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- Figure 43: Top ten claims in new product launch – Snacks, China 2015-17
- Figure 44: Top ten claims in new product launch – Biscuits and crackers, China 2015-17
- Figure 45: Top ten claims in new product launch – Chocolate and sugar confectionery, China 2015-17
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Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
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- Methodology
- Fan chart forecast
- Abbreviations
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