The Market For Between Meal Snacks

Novel products

An industry such as Tesco has to go through over ten months of planning and trial and error testing to get to the final product on the shelf. They must choose a specific target audience where there is a saleable gap in the market. e.g. ,Microwavable desserts etc. With this in mind they go about inventing a 'novel product' this is meant by an original idea and filling in a gap.

Manufacturers like Tesco are always looking to improve products, when inventing a novel idea they have to be sure to stick to the dietary guidelines and not make the product to fatty or to sweet. The dietary guidelines are as follows:

Bread, potatoes and other cereals make up to nearly 50% of your diet and should be eaten as a base for many meals.

Fruit and vegetables, should be a eaten at least five times a day to give you the necessary vitamins and minerals. This is a very broad heading and can be filled very easily.

Meat, fish and alternatives, these contain most of the proteins and vitamins, especially B vitamins. You should always choose a healthier version and either grill or bake whenever possible, compared to frying.

Milk and dairy, these include Milk cheese and yoghurt. These contain essential minerals like calcium and are usually high in fat so always choose a lower fat alternative.

Fatty and sugary foods, these include chocolate and crisps and shouldn't be eaten regularly due to their high fat content. Oils also come into this group, so try and choose lower fat alternative if possible.

Here are some of the products on the market today, including ones which could be eaten on the go and ones which could contribute to a main meal:

* Snickers and mars bars ( chocolate )

* Pot Noodles and snack breaks ( dehydrated snacks )

* Crisps and peanuts ( oily foods )

* Sandwiches.

* Fruit ( healthy )

These snacks are just a few of the ones on market and don't show how big the industry is. I have put some of them into groups. Chocolate is a big business in the snack industry as many people go out to buy a small snack that they can eat on the go, the packaging is important as well as the actual product, as it needs to be wrapped for freshness in foil or plastic. chocolate is good as a snack as its high in sugar and will tide you over till the next meal.

Pot noodles and other dehydrated meals are becoming readily available as they are easily prepared and can be made in under five minutes, only needing boiling water.

Fruit is not as popular as the other snacks compared to a mars bar or crisps. but fresh fruit is always seen accompanying snacks in lunch boxes. it is also being sold in tubs in places like Superdrug and boots. this is very good as we need 5 helpings of fruit a day, so its important to publicise this fact.

Most snacks are eaten on the go so are high in sugar and carbohydrates to release energy quickly into the blood stream. A Nutri grain bar is a good example of this as its high in carbohydrates ( wheat and grains ) and sugar ( dried fruit or chocolate )

Finding a gap in the market

There are a wide variety of in between meal snacks on the market today, the above are just a few. A food manufacturer needs to find a gap in the market , which needs development e.g. Dehydrated snacks. My aim is to find a gap in the market and evaluate on that, then make a healthier version. A good way to find this out is to carry out a survey or questionnaire, on what I want to find, in this case if people eat in-between meal snacks and if yes what?

At a certain target group.

Most snacks are high in carbohydrates like wheat and grain and are high in sugars like chocolate. To meet the current dietary guidelines I will have to cut down on the very sugary foods like chocolate and replace them with more natural alternatives such as dried fruits and artificial sweeteners.

Questionnaire - in between meal snacks.

Name : ...............................................

Date : .................................................

What age group do you fit in to?

-10 ??( )

1 - 20? ( )

21 - 30 ( )?

31 - 40 ( )

41 - 50 ( ) ?

51 + ( ) ??

Are you male or female

Male ( )

Female ( )

On average how many snacks do you eat a day?

once a day ????? ( )?????

twice a ( )

three times a day?? ( )?????

other? ( please state )

?

.......................................

Do you eat sweet or savoury snacks?

.....................................................................................................

at what time would you eat this snack?

.....................................................................................................

Would / Have you ever considered eating anything different at this point of the day? e.g. fresh fruit instead of crisps

.....................................................................................................

Thank you for your time and co-operation for filling this out.