Search volume for snacks in India (2018–2020) [Courtesy: SimilarWeb]
Over the past few years, there has been a significant change in our eating habits. While much of it came as food brands evolved and experimented with new categories, a large chunk of it is now being influenced through social media. Take, for example, the trend of hot chocolate bombs. Some cool people on Internet posted reels with it and boom, everyone now wants one. This is what happened with Dalgona coffee (dearly called fancy fenti hui coffee by Indians) sometime back when it started an unannounced competition of who makes the most presentable coffee.
While the above ones were more or less a fad, there is a new food trend growing under our nose and it looks like it is here to stay. As many nations continue to fight problems like obesity, more and more people are paying attention to their food habits. We now have a whole industry that revolves around healthy snacking and it is going up by leaps and bounds.
Online traffic for healthy snacks in India (2018–2020) [Courtesy: SimilarWeb]
2 years back, there was almost no online traffic of people searching healthy snacks in India. The pandemic changed it dramatically. There is no doubt that people were getting inclined towards healthy and natural, however the pandemic made a lot of people shift to healthy and sustainable eating. So much so, that in 2020, there were over 50,000 monthly average searches for healthy snacks.
One of the reasons behind this happened to be the decadent lifestyle we all got accommodated to with our work and education shifting online. People were concerned about weight gain and like always, they went to Internet looking for answers. One searched for healthy snacks and voila, one gets unsolicited tips on weight loss. But yeah, this is how Internet works.
Spending huge screen time with little or no movement, healthy snacks came as a saviour. We had no reason to say no to food that tasted good without increasing our already increased weight.
After a period of denial, when Indians accustomed to the new normal, they hunted the Internet for two things:
how to make easy healthy recipes at home
where to buy go-to snacks from
The volume and frequency was so huge that articles written in 2018 and 2019 soon begin to pop up in the top 10 landing pages.
Top landing pages for healthy snacks in India [Courtesy: SimilarWeb]
Of the snacks most wanted by people, the categories of nuts and seeds remained in great demand, with makhana alone being bought and sold in so many varieties. Since we are talking about variety, it would only be an injustice to not mention the traditional namkeen which got all customised to become a popular snack. Be it Murukku from the South, or Dalmeal from the West, or Chidwa in the East, or Namakpaare in the North, the online businesses served it all.
Top landing pages to buy healthy snacks in India [Courtesy: SimilarWeb]
There were quite a lot of innovations happening around and the traditional Indian food marked quite a territory. The demand was big and the supply catered to it exceptionally well. Food businesses, despite being in the same industry, performed well and created their own niche. The protein bar from the Whole Truth Food or the regional namkeens from Postcard, each came up with their own unique product.
Going by the trend, it will be safe to say that the segment of healthy snacks is only to grow exponentially. The ongoing trends in food industry, in general, also re-strengthens the forecast. There will be a lot to see in the coming years, be it the product innovation, or the communication around it.
Another interesting factor to look out is the added values the businesses will be providing to their customers. As the demand would grow, there will only be more of it. There have been some who have already started the movement including The Whole Truth Food and The Postcard. While the former provides an option to reuse/ recycle the wrapper, the latter is avoiding/ reducing the use of nitrogen in their packets.
It feels great to see such a fundamental change in attitude, a booming concern towards a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. There is altogether a more reason to celebrate to see small businesses shining in a world majorly dominated by big conglomerates.
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