The snack meals trade is consistently evolving, formed by altering shopper tastes and life. Comfort, well being, and indulgence are key drivers, resulting in a various vary of snack choices. International snack gross sales have always been on the rise, pushed by busy life, on-the-go consumption, and the demand for fast, satisfying bites.
In response to Statista, the worldwide market is predicted to develop yearly by 6.13% (CAGR 2024-2028) with the typical quantity per particular person within the snack meals market anticipated to quantity to 9.2 kilograms in 2024.
“India being house to the biggest inhabitants on this planet out of which 70% are Gen Z and millennials, a whole lot of pleasure exists across the snacking trade within the nation”, Nikhil Rao, chief advertising and marketing officer at Mars Wrigley India informed Marketing campaign Asia-Pacific. Mars Wrigley in India focuses on chocolate and confectionery manufacturers.
As urbanisation drives a rise in shopper spending, the Indian snack trade is about for substantial progress, projected to achieve US $23.69 billion by 2028. Firms are adapting their choices to align with native shopper preferences to capitalise on this progress.
Rao defined, “The evolving tastes within the Indian market embody a rising desire for fusion flavors. Customers search consolation in acquainted meals whereas additionally embracing world tastes. Moreover, there’s a need for Western meals with native attraction, reflecting a shift in direction of extra various and worldwide flavour profiles.”
Two examples of fusion flavours by Mars are Snickers Kesar Pista and Doublemint betel taste, specifically crafted to focus on the mix of flavors for the Indian market.
The quick paced world of as we speak can be seeing comfort turn into a high precedence. Rao sees the pattern of rising desire for “on-the-go snacks” within the Indian market.
The third pattern of observe is well being and wellness as shoppers globally are extra conscious of what they’re consuming, and India isn’t any completely different. Elaborating on this pattern within the nation Rao talked about how Mars Wrigley has labored with shoppers and segmented this market into 4 sorts.
First, shoppers are searching for the identical tastes, however with out guilt, driving demand for portion management. “This has made us provide packs underneath 12 grams throughout our manufacturers, obtainable in multi-packs, share baggage, and as particular person items,” shared Rao.
Rao underscored well being and well-being traits noting, ‘One other necessary side is fortification, the place shoppers search merchandise enriched with important macro or micronutrients.”
The third phase could be shoppers in search of snacks or confectionery which have elements which can be higher for them as they attempt to keep match”, he added.
The fourth pattern, in keeping with Rao, is Ayurveda – a serious affect within the nation, driving many manufacturers that aren’t essentially within the snacking house however are targeted on selling pure and conventional elements.
Do it the way in which Gen Z does it
Gen Z and Gen Alpha are rising because the dominant shopper teams worldwide, shaping the worldwide meals and snacking panorama with their distinctive preferences and necessities.
With a median age of 28 and about 65% underneath 35, India’s 1.4 billion inhabitants consists of over 910 million millennials and Gen Z with a big chunk of this quantity being the latter.
These Gen Zers are more and more shaping model advertising and marketing methods, being digital natives with restricted consideration spans. Analysis carried out by Microsoft discovered that the typical consideration span of Gen Z was solely about eight seconds, 4 seconds lower than that of millennials.
Rao observes an growing prevalence of short-format movies throughout social media platforms and promoting channels, to cater to this phase. When it comes to advertising and marketing, there are 5 issues that Gen Z shoppers in India search for and types try to attune to shared Rao.
“The very first thing is authenticity, preferring manufacturers with sincere, robust personalities and a transparent goal, similar to our model Galaxy, which advocates for empowering girls. Additionally they worth variety and anticipate manufacturers to take a stance on necessary points,” famous Rao.
The third pattern revolves round this shopper base being exceptionally digital first.
“The GenZ have a powerful desire for personalised content material. Roughly 81% point out a need for manufacturers to determine private connections and use addressable media to focus on them based mostly on their particular wants. They’re closely engaged in gaming and use platforms like Snapchat,” Rao stated.
Sustainability can be a key concern for Gen Z, as they’re environmentally acutely aware and anticipate manufacturers to be as properly, in keeping with Rao.
This era can be a extremely interconnected and globally acutely aware viewers. They actively search out communities of like-minded people, typically forming world networks by way of social media and blogs.
“This era creates and participates in curiosity teams, they usually intently comply with influencers. Manufacturers can successfully have interaction with Gen Z by recognising and leveraging these community-driven behaviors,” shared Rao.
Trendy shoppers globally prioritise experiences over possessions, turning meals and snacks into inexpensive, experiential adventures in style and taste.
Rao stated for Gen Z in India, “Entrepreneurs ought to observe that this era in India additionally values experiences extra over materials possessions and this must be taken into the advertising and marketing method”.
Advertising and marketing to the millennials and the older era
Regardless of shopper considerations about inflation and rising residing prices, curiosity in premium meals merchandise is steadily growing worldwide. This pattern is pushed by numerous demographic and societal elements. India can be seeing a heightened style for luxurious and premium merchandise.
Rao shed some gentle on this house as he stated, “Indian millennials on the peak of their incomes stage are aspiring for premium and luxurious life-style manufacturers, showcasing a excessive diploma of premiumisation within the Indian market in comparison with Southeast Asia and different rising markets.”
He added, “They’ve extra of an consideration span than Gen Z and are sometimes focused by entrepreneurs with round fifteen-second common business length, specializing in their excessive household earnings and affinity for life-style branding.”
Fascinating traits in advertising and marketing may also be noticed in India for the era that’s 5 to 10 years away from retirement and is probably targeted on prudent spending.
Rao shared how this era isn’t totally engaged in ecommerce just like the millennials and is usually seen in supermarkets.
“Manufacturers that evoke belief and safety carry out properly with this group, and testimonials are efficient. Loyalty applications and reductions are additionally profitable with this viewers”, he famous.
Social media versus conventional media and the Indian method
In a rustic as huge and various as India, there is no such thing as a denying that social media advertising and marketing presents immense alternatives for manufacturers to develop, but conventional media additionally carries an enormous significance. For Rao transferring from a Southeast Asia (SEA) position at Mondelez to hitch Mars Wrigley in India, this was completely different.
“In contrast to SEA, I feel in India, a whole lot of the advertising and marketing continues to be led by tv. Tv drives about 70 to 80% of our attain which is OTT channels that present compelling content material and kind a spine of our media technique adopted by social media,” he shared.
TV long-form storytelling and 30-second TV ads are nonetheless very prevalent in India added Rao, in contrast to among the different SEA nations.
The expansion of ecommerce
The speedy development of know-how is reworking the retail panorama, enabling instantaneous purchases from anyplace at any time. This shift is reshaping shopper conduct and elevating expectations for larger comfort and a extra constructive buying expertise.
Digital commerce is a quick rising side of the Indian market that entrepreneurs shouldn’t ignore. It’s quickly altering the way in which India retailers and it’s typically stated that fast commerce (supply in a single hour or much less) is competing with offline shops on comfort.
For Rao, digital commerce presents alternatives for entrepreneurs to construct manufacturers and implement efficiency advertising and marketing. Efficiency advertising and marketing, together with techniques like paid search, could be necessary for manufacturers to get seen and to advertise particular merchandise or choices.
“Whereas mass media stays a big a part of Mars Wrigley’s price range, they’re additionally specializing in model advertising and marketing by way of on-line platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and Swiggy. “This consists of utilizing banners and different types of digital promoting to advertise their model and choices and for elevated visibility on the platforms”, famous Rao.
The position of GenAI
GenAI can improve numerous phases of the advertising and marketing marketing campaign funnel. This consists of leveraging the know-how for market analysis, automating processes like format era and content material creation, and optimizing marketing campaign efficiency. Rao sees GenAI for entrepreneurs in India nonetheless being at pilot stage.
“We’re intently monitoring the insurance policies and guidelines relating to AI utilization, for now as we wish to keep away from any shopper points attributable to Gen AI taking liberties and sharing inappropriate content material,” shared Rao.
“Whereas we’ve carried out some pilots, we’ve not totally carried out AI in a big means but,” he added.
