Blurring boundaries between breakfast and snacking

The relationship between consumers and breakfast is changing and the line between meals and snacks continues to blur. Despite breakfast being regarded as the most important meal of the day, 51% of global consumers spend on average less than 15 minutes on it (GlobalData’s Q4 consumer research 2016).

With consumers increasingly feeling time-scarce but still looking for healthy and convenient foods, breakfast presents a lucrative opportunity for snacking innovations.

Embracing snacking as a breakfast option creates openings for manufacturers to launch new product developments (NPD) positioned as healthy and time-saving, while also enticing palates with greater variety in ingredients. The spread of the health and wellness trend, as well as the increasing number of consumers experimenting with fad diets and vegetarian or vegan diets for health benefits or personal beliefs poses new opportunities for retailers.

Alongside healthiness and taste, a focus on packaging designed for on-the go consumption or with portability features is essential to compete within the breakfast market.

Health benefits should be clearly communicated through on-pack claims to reassure consumers that products featuring convenient packaging still preserve their nutritional properties.

Examples of NPD targeting breakfast include:

• Xi'an Meiqi meizi Biology Technology has embraced the hybrid breakfast-snack market in China with a plant protein beverage. The product aims to encourage consumers to see drinkable products as valid alternatives to main meals, and targets busy consumers who aim to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
• Kellogg’s has launched a cereal breakfast mix with a portable packaging design normally used for snacks that fits in a car’s cup holder for transportation, and does not require any additional milk, tapping into the on-the-go consumption trend.

To tap this 'snackification' trend, NPD should be offered in grab-and-go formats or single-serve portions for on-the-go consumption to fit into hectic lifestyles. However, with consumers increasingly concerned about their health, products should also aim to be healthy with ingredients considered to have a positive impact on health.

Examples of ingredients that would help a new product cultivate a healthy image among consumers includes blueberries (considered by 78% of consumers as having positive effects on health), ginseng (62%), botanicals / plant extracts (60%), goji berries (48%) or green tea flavours (78%) (GlobalData Q1 consumer survey, 2017). Using packaging claims to educate consumers on the health and wellness benefits of the product will ensure they do not feel forced to make a choice between convenience and health.

Related links

https://www.globaldata.com/store/search/consumer/?query=UK

http://consumer.globaldata.com/Analysis/details/conference-presentation-everything-is-a-snack-modern-day-snacking-in-america