With the consistent growth of the snack bar category over the past few years, the Almond Board of California wanted to better understand consumer usage, consumption and perceptions of various types of bars. We did so by taking a look at the overall bar landscape, including consumers’ wants, needs and trends to evaluate their preferences for ingredients, including almonds. We also wanted to identify key opportunities for almonds in the bar category.
In the consumer study, we asked participants what the top ingredients would be in their “ideal” snack bar (“U.S. Bars Exploratory Study,” 2014, Sterling-Rice Group). Almonds were named as the most-desired ingredient nut in consumers’ “ideal bar,” leading the way with 27 percent. Other top ingredients included granola (26 percent), dark chocolate (24 percent) and oats (19 percent).