Britain a Nation of Snackers

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Monday, 10 May 2004

Brits are not only Europe's biggest snackers, but their snacking habits also bear most resemblance to their US counterparts, according to a new report from independent market analyst Datamonitor.

"It is now well recognised that consumers are snacking more. However, British snackers are becoming increasingly difficult to please as their demand for healthy and 'guilt free indulgence' snacks increases," said Daniel Bone, consumer markets analyst at Datamonitor.

Brits munch through £143 worth of snacks per person per year and this is set to increase to almost £158 by 2008. This compares to £141.5 in the US, while the average spend per person in Europe stands at £109. US consumers, however, out-eat their UK counterparts - the average number of daily snacking occasions per person in the US stood at 2.2 in 2003, compared to 1.9 in the UK. "The reason behind this surprising figure is that UK consumers have a sweeter tooth. Per head consumption of chocolate confectionery in the UK significantly higher than in the US, but if fast-food type snacks were taken into account, then US per head expenditure would then be significantly higher," said Bone.

Source: just-food.com