Food trends: Americans still prefer salty snacks
As more American consumers continue to drift away from eating three meals a day, snacking has become the latest trend.
But while today’s health conscious consumer has pressured food manufacturers to consider ways to cut ingredients and slim down their products in an effort to cater to healthier lifestyles, a new report shows Americans still crave salty snacks.
According to the Packaged Facts report Salty Snacks in the US, whether its chips, pretzels, cheese snacks or popcorn, these products continue to reign supreme as consumer favorites. Researchers say the percentage of households who purchase salty snacks (more than 90%) in a typical week is on par with the percentage of Americans who own cell phones and is almost as high as the percentage of US homes with a television.
Chips led in terms of popularity, but these products are rarely the only salty snacks purchased. According to the study, only 7 percent of households that purchase salty snacks consume potato chips alone. In contrast, 77 million households, or 67 percent of salty snack purchasers use at least three kinds of these snack products.
The portrait of an average American who purchases all four major types of salty snacks—chips, popcorn, tortilla chips and cheese snacks—is white and between the age of 35 and 54. These consumers are more likely to live in the central region of the country and in small to medium-sized urban areas. They also have a higher likelihood of working full-time and enjoy a middle- to upper-income life style with a household income of $75,000 or more.
More information on the study can be found here.
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