It’s a great time to make snack and bakery your home. Analysts report that more than half of all eating occasions are now snacks. Multiple segments of bakery continue to annually find new levels of strength. And if you merge these two industries into the “bakery snacks” product segment, a nice synergy emerges: IRI data shows bakery snacks, now a $2.2 billion segment, are up more than 10% in dollar sales over the past year.
Our pursuits remain wide-ranging. Health-and-wellness and better-for-you continually find themselves smartly balanced with indulgence—sometimes in the same product. New uses for ancient and diverse grains enter the picture as manufacturers and consumers seek more gluten-free solutions. Increased nutritional and processing functionality walk hand-in-hand with appealing flavor and mouthfeel. Manufacturers and engineers seek strategies for better plant efficiency without sacrifices to signature product attributes and time-tested quality.