Part
01
of one
Part
01
What is the target market for children's health snack foods, and what is the amount of money available in the US for this industry?
Hello! Thanks for your question about the target market for children's health snack foods, and the amount of US money available for this industry. The short answer is that Millennial parents, particularly Millennial mothers, are most likely to give their children healthy snacks. Financial information on the "children's healthy food industry" was not publicly available, but I was able to find market size information for the healthy food industry in general, as well as some useful statistics about how many snacks children consume. Please read on for a deep dive of my research/findings.
METHODOLOGY
I began by focusing my search for sources that contained quantitative data. I was able to find a number of academic research papers, as well as surveys conducted by industry organizations (such as Mintel) and third party market analysis. Some other useful sources that I found were published before 2015 (the oldest is 2013). When the source is older than two years, I include that information and the year it was published. Information on the market size of the children's health snack food industry was not readily available, so I attempted to triangulate the information, or at least provide valuable hard data that might provide an idea of the market.
MARKET SIZE AND GROWTH
In 2015, the U.S. healthy snack food market was valued at 3,307.1 Million USD. Globally, in 2016, the total market for healthy snack foods was 21.1 billion USD. "Between 2011 and 2015, the healthy snack segment achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7%." The CAGR is expected to grow to 5.7% between 2016 and 2020.
However, this does not account for the specific niche of healthy snack foods marketed for children's consumption. Although exact market size calculations do not exist for this segment (potentially because it is too niche for market analysis companies to compile, or because not enough information exists), I provide a number of statistics regarding snacking habits of children that may be able to provide a better picture of the market.
Gluten free and allergen free claims are the current most popular "free form" products. Overall, healthy snacks with fewer ingredients, non-GMO, etc. continue to grow exponentially.
According to Mintel's "Snacking Motivations and Attitudes US 2015" 94% of Americans snack at least once a day. In 2014, that number was only 64%. Children's snacking rates have also gone up. 74% of children snacked in 1977, as compared to 98% in 2006. According to the academic research site Health Affairs, "...childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day, and more than 27 percent of children’s daily calories are coming from snacks. " Mintel also states that, according to their 2015 survey, 30 percent of parents are serving healthier snacks to their children, with the biggest demographic being Millennial parents, who serve healthy snacks to their kids 33% of the time.
As well, two other potentially useful statistics are that 77% of people prefer ready-to-eat snacks (and 42% of households with children say there are not enough conveniently packaged snacks), and 60% wish there were more healthy snack options.
TARGET MARKET
As stated above, 30% of parents are serving healthier snacks to their kids. Millennial parents have the highest percentage of serving healthier snacks to kids, at 33%. Millennials, more than any other generational group, are more likely to snack, and Millennials indicate that snacks with added nutrition and flavor variety are important to them.
As well, "...although women tend to purchase fewer snacks overall than their male counterparts; the snacks women do choose tend to be healthier, with 78% of their snacks purchases consisting of healthy snacks. While this makes men the greatest target segment for growth, women remain the most engaged consumers." And, according to a Fleishman-Hillard and Motherhood.com survey, 78% of mothers indicate that they consciously read food labels to find products that avoid artificial dyes, gluten, high fructose corn syrup and high levels of sugar.
We, therefore, might reasonably conclude that it is Millennial mothers, who themselves are more likely to snack on healthy snacks, that are also more likely to buy healthier snacks for their children.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the U.S. healthy snack food market was valued at 3,307.1 Million USD in 2015. 33% of Millennial parents provide healthy snacks to their children, and women are more likely than men to buy healthier snack options. Millennials in general snack more often than their older counterparts.
Thanks for using Wonder! Please let us know if we can help you with anything else!