Amid turbulent tariffs, rising producer costs (eg cocoa commodity price) and dynamic consumer habit shifts, the snacks industry continues to realise the upside to value growth resulting in USD679 billion retail sales in 2024. Euromonitor’s research has identified five key trends critical to industry strategy set to shape snacks in the years ahead.
Augmented Affordables
Snacks’ forecast performance is expected to outpace its historic growth rate. However, consumers’ search for better value is rising amid financial strain and category fatigue. The dichotomy between private label and branded is shrinking, benefiting quality affordables and catalysing upbranding efforts. And consumer trading habits are ranging – from down to value brands to up to more premium offers.
Premium-like categories, fruit snacks and vegetable chips, for example, are forecast to see 2025-2030 value CAGRs 0.6pp and 0.3pp higher than potential substitute categories, gummies and jellies and potato chips, respectively
This will challenge the industry’s ability to develop modernised solutions that address both value and cost concerns simultaneously (ie value conscious snacks).
Staple(izing) Snacks
After several years of depressed volume growth, snacks (in retail and foodservice) is expected to turn around in the year ahead; however, snacking occasion frequency is down due to a range of consumption inhibitors.
An extension of Euromonitor’s Snacks Seen More as Staples trend, Staple(izing) Snacks emphasises the need to get ahead of consumption inhibitors and promote habitual snacking in more meaningful ways. For example:
- Snacks with an ingredient appeal. In 2024, PepsiCo’s Lay’s launched the Ways to Lay’s The marketing effort promoted the versatility of chips for use as a topping or crunchy food coating.
- Snacks as a back-up meal. In 2025, Unilever launched Talenti Layers bakery collection leveraging proprietary technology to add layers of gelato and bakery pieces. The launch seeks to take dessert occasions beyond ice cream and may expand in 2026.
- Snacks rooted in traditional times. Following success in 2023, Mars relaunched M&M's Halloween Rescue Squad in 2024, a special promotion allowing candy-givers to refill trick-or-treat stock in 30mins or less, free of charge.
Snacks must build a resilient image as purposeful, essential and multifunctional. The resulting innovations and marketing will create opportunity for occasion, brand and sales expansion in the future.
Consumers Consulted
Consumer voices and human actions have been, and are indefinitely, valuable to the industry’s success.
Nearly half (42.6%) of global consumers say they like to engage with brands to influence product innovation
Source: Euromonitor’s Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyles Survey, fielded January-February 2025 (n=40,337)
Increasing use of AI presents a breadth of new opportunities, but also risks, that the snacks industry must understand and balance to continue serving its consumers. Snack manufacturers that elevate the value of fundamental consumer insights and, more importantly, human insights will benefit in the longer term.
Spice Specifics
Spicy flavour continues to make positive inroads – with tracked new product launches in snacks sustaining growth in 2024. Spicy flavour is expanding beyond salty snacks, where popular brands like Cheetos and Takis dominate (with overall global brand retail sales above USD5 billion and USD1 billion, respectively, in 2024). Specific spice flavours, hot and not, are also gaining traction in snack innovations fulfilling sensory, taste and transparency demands.
With sensoriality a key value pillar for snacks, more nuanced flavours with added detail are expected to inspire purchases, set innovations apart and contribute to snacks’ performance in the years ahead.
Embrace the mESGe
Ingredient availability is constrained due, in part, to climate changes. Food purchases are increasingly seen as a symbol of political position (ie politicisation of snacks) and trade barriers are being created due to geopolitical disagreements. For years, the snacks industry has had to navigate environmental, cultural and legislative shifts and the year ahead is expected to be similar – but evolved with added layers of complexity.
Looking forward, there is expected to be more interest in regulating snack manufacturers’ operational ethics that will, at times, add logistical complexity and, ultimately, test brand loyalty.
Despite the challenges outlined, brands should be progressing on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies, embracing snacktivism in their own right, and relentlessly looking for ways to drive deeper consumer connectedness to avoid boycotts, bans or trades.
Keep pace with this year’s snack trends
As snacking continues to develop, Euromonitor’s five key trends in snacks offer paths for strategy and growth development.
For more information on the state of snacking and trends to watch for in 2025-2026, read our reports, World Market for Snacks and Top Five Trends in Snacks.