The Growing Popularity for Sweets & Savory Snacks in the Indian Market: An Overview

SWEET AND SAVORY SNACKS MARKET: GLOBAL INDUSTRY ANALYSIS, TRENDS, MARKET SIZE AND FORECASTS UP TO 2024

The Report on Global Sweet and Savory Snacks Market provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis for the period of 2018 to 2024. This report had predicted the Global Sweet and Savory Snacks Market to grow at a CAGR of 6.17% over the forecast period for the period for the period starting from 2016-2024. The study on Sweet and Savory Snacks Market analyzes the leading geographies, such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW) for the period starting from 2018 to 2024. The Global Market Size of Sweet and Savory Snacks was worth USD 144.0 billion, which is projected to reach USD 219.6 billion in 2024. In terms of volume, the Market is set to achieve 148.35 MMT by 2024, expanding from 104.94 MMT in 2017. The global trend of preference for organic food is likely to drive the demand for organic snacks over the forecast period. This in turn is anticipated to augment the opportunities in the Global Sweet and Savory Snacks Market over the next six years. Among the regions, the North America region accounted for the largest market share in 2017, which is closely followed by the Asia-Pacific Region.

Current Status of Sweets and Savories Sector

India’s Sweets and Snacks Industry is estimated at about INR 49,000 crores and has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 percent. The Indian Traditional Sweets Market is valued at around US$ 6 billion, in which Packaged Sweets Market constituted a value of around INR 3500 crores. In 2020, the sales value of sweet and savory snacks in the Indian Packaged Foods Market amounted to USD 5.78 billion. India is the world’s largest biscuit consuming nation, which will be worth nearly USD 4.65 billion by FY 2020. India Cake market is forecasted to reach US$ 882.24 million by 2024 growing at a CAGR of 12.5% during the forecast period from 2019 to 2024.

Quality Parameters for Sweets and Savouries

According to FSSAI regulations, sweets are categorized into 5 parts based on shelf life.

• 1st is Very short Shelf life i.e. the same day
For e.g. Kalakand and variants

• 2nd is Short shelf life (i.e.) 2 days
For e.g. Milk Products and Bengali Sweets such as Rasgulla, Rasmalai, etc.

• 3rd is Medium Short life (i.e.) 4 days
For e.g. Ladoo and khoya sweets such as Barfi

• 4th is Long shelf life (i.e.) 7 days
For e.g. Sweets with ghee and dry fruits such as Kaju Katli, Gujia, etc.

• 5th is Very long shelf life i.e. around 30 days
For e.g. Atta ladoo, Gajjak, Chikki, etc.

FSSAI has mandated for the display of “Best Before Date” on non-packaged/ loose sweets at the outlet for sale from 01st October, 2020.

For Quality Assurance of sweets and savouries, proper portioning and seal integrity are the two major concerns. Individual bar and boxes with multiple bars can be underweight, overweight, deformed or broken. Additionally, during the sealing process, bits of food can get trapped in product seals, creating a faulty seal and causing food spoilage. To overcome such issues, manufacturers should install a range of inspection equipment on their production line, such as checkweighers, metal detectors and vision system, etc. Proper date of manufacturing and best before date should compulsorily be printed on the packet.

Health Aspects of Sweet

Sweet Snacks are mainly unhealthy, due to high Glycemic index of White Sugar (Mostly Sucrose). Use of sugar substitutes with lower glycemic index may result in better nutritional qualities.

1. Natural Sugar Substitutes –
• Coconut Sugar
• Palmyra Blossom Nectar

Health Aspects of Savory Snacks

One of the main drawbacks of savory snacks is that it contains high value of table salt (Sodium Chloride). High intake of Sodium Chloride may result in Hyper Tension (High Blood Pressure) and other Cardio Vascular Diseases.

• Flavourful Salt Substitutes are used to circumvent these risks and make snacking healthy.

1. Black Pepper
2. Lemon Juice
3. Balsamic Vinegar
4. Cumin
5. Garlic

Marketing Trends

Since the 1990s, the Snacks Market has come a long way. The Industry had been dominated primarily by snack giants and a handful of regional brands. Innovations have always been the key to succeed in the Indian Snacks Industry. The Snacks Industry Players have always been surprising and delighting their customers with amazing and unique taste offerings. The new flavours are inspired by the diversified food culture of our country. There have been major improvements in the manufacturing, processing, distribution and marketing processes of snack products. This has made packaged snack products quite popular amongst the Indian consumers. Since 2019, the Savory Snacks Market in India has shown an increasing trend. In 2020, the Snacks Market value in India was about US$ 5.57 billion and is expected to reach almost US$ 13 billion by 2026.

Traditionally, Indian families like to prepare snacks at home to eat between meals or during travelling. However, with increasing per capita income, higher disposable incomes and need for convenience on account of the fast-paced lifestyles, the demand for Ready to Eat, On-the-Go snacks has increased. Hectic schedules are making it tough for people to maintain the right work-life balance. As people switched to Work From Home during the COVID-19 lockdowns, they had developed the habit of munching while working. Also, due to an increase in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and heart ailments, many have started opting for healthy snacking. Now, customers want to purchase products that are not only tasty and convenient to procure, but nutritious as well.

The changing patterns and trends have led to a rise in the demand for responsible and ethical food processing. The Indian Snacking and Confectionery Industry has been going through a remarkable growth cycle in recent years, as more and more domestic as well as multinational companies are looking to establish their presence in the Indian Market. Growing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and collaborations in the Industry are only going to speed up the process. The numbers indicate that the segment has a huge growth potential and will add immensely to the development of the Indian economy.

References:

Statista – The Statistics Portal for Market Data, Market Research and Market Studies.

About the Authors:

   Garima Kapoor                      Stephy Das
   Food Technologist                  Consultant (Product Development) 
   PMFME PMU, NIFTEM, KUNDLI.         PMFME PMU, NIFTEM, KUNDLI.    
                                      Email ID: stephydas@niftem.ac.in

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