Research: How to design snack packaging for the health-conscious consumer, with Mintel

The movement toward healthy eating is well established and gaining strength. Research shows that the shift in eating habits doesn’t signal the end of snacking. Instead, consumers are looking for cues to help them select snacks that meet their criteria for a healthy lifestyle.

In 2017, well over half of surveyed European consumers responded that they would like to see a wider range of snack, energy and cereal bars with added health benefits1. So what does this mean for the future of the snacking category?

Base: internet users aged 16+ who have eaten/bought cereal, snack or energy bars in the last 6 months: France – 488; Germany – 526; Italy – 689; Poland - 689; Spain – 647 1Source: Lightspeed/Mintel

Taste and nutritional benefits will drive new consumption occasions, and those will in turn drive packaging formats. But with multiple consumption occasions, and various definitions of what healthy eating means, snack packaging can’t be all things to all people: variation in design and functionality is required for different consumption occasions, and for health-conscious shoppers, a product’s nutritional benefits must be made clear from the start. Clean labelling and free-from statements play a role in helping consumers evaluate the benefits of snack items, as does pack design. In the fresh nuts category, for example, consumers want to feel that the product is natural, and many nut brands achieve this using fresh graphics, matt lacquers, transparent windows and paper-feel materials such as AmPaper.

Designing snacks for on-the-go is a common theme and flexible packaging dominates the category, even for snacks such as nuts, which were traditionally sold in cans with lids. Today, 93 per cent of nuts are packed in flexible packaging such as stand-up pouches and PushPop packaging. Brands can take on-the-go packaging to the next level with clever sizes, one-handed opening features and re-closable packs that maintain freshness and reduce food waste.

The rise of the health-conscious consumer doesn’t mean the end of indulgence. Smaller portion control packs are one way to make indulgence acceptable. Wellness motivated snackers are especially willing to indulge if it’s linked to improved mood. Added superfood ingredients and benefits such as high fiber can justify rich foods that offer a positive pay-off.

The ‘real estate’ on packaging is a valuable space: this is where brands communicate not only their brand message and values, but regulatory requirements too. With this real estate in danger of becoming overcrowded, Amcor and our technology partner Kezzler, have developed MaxQ, an end-to-end digital packaging system to grow consumer engagement and loyalty.

Consumers can scan each pack’s MaxQ code with their smartphones and instantly launch a digital experience, which could include information like product origin, ingredient sourcing or recyclability of the packaging – all potentially important information for conscious consumers.

An example of using connected packaging for consumer engagement is our Valentine’s Day project with Cadbury which allowed consumers to scan their Milk Tray box with a smartphone and record a personal Valentine video message for the special someone receiving the chocolates.

No worries if you missed the live webinar. You can watch the webinar recording of Mintel's Benjamin Punchard, Global Packaging Insights Director and Amcor's Paulina Dudkiewicz, Marketing Segment Manager for Snacks & Nuts where they share more insights and trends that can help snack brands appeal to the health-conscious and environmentally-conscious consumer.

Contact us to connect with our nuts and dried fruit packaging experts. Or find out more about our full offering for snacks, sweets and nuts here.

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1: Source: Lightspeed/Mintel. Base: internet users aged 16+ who have eaten/bought cereal, snack or energy bars in the last 6 months: France – 488; Germany – 526; Italy – 689; Poland - 689; Spain – 647
2: Source: Lightspeed/Mintel. Base 1,852 internet users aged 16+ who have eaten snacks in the last 2 weeks.
3: Source: Lightspeed/Mintel. Base: Germany - 867 internet users aged 16+ who have eaten cake and cake bars in the last month
4: Source: Google Shopper Marketing Agency Council