An ingredient pandemic has added to snacking: Health

Snacking has always been an unconscious habit, often driven by mid-work cravings or hunger pangs at odd hours. But two years of the pandemic, of staying home and of worrying about health appears to have changed that.

According to EY’s Sunrise Consumer Health and Nutrition Sector report, released last month, Covid-19 has created a seismic shift, bringing health and immunity to the centre stage. About 94 per cent of Indians are now worried about their family’s health and are investing in wellness — spending on fitness classes, or turning to natural foods, health supplements and specialised diets. 

This upswing in healthy eating is also visible in the plethora of brands catering to this demand.

Mridula Kanoria, who co-founded Jaipur-based The Eat Better Company in 2020, says it began with a conversation about changed snacking habits during the pandemic, and her daughter-in-law, Vidushi Kajaria (the other founder), prompted her to start selling the snacks she made at home for the family.

“We identified a gap in the market and realised that healthy snacks did not really taste great. Eating healthy is a choice that should not seem like a compromise,” says Kajaria.

The website offers snacks like vanilla cacao laddoos made with chia seeds,  almonds, and dates; spiced jaggery etc.

In 15 months, the brand has cultivated a customer base of 25,000, has grown 38 per cent month-on-month and made inroads into the corporate gifting industry, tying up with companies like Visa and American Express.  

“Since the pandemic, people are much more conscious of what they are eating, where their food comes from; and this has definitely contributed to the growth of our business,” says Kanoria.

The health food and beverages segment grew at 14 per cent CAGR during FY18-21, to reach Rs 700 billion in FY21. Consumers are actively looking for brands with incremental nutrients like protein, fibre, vitamins, calcium and minerals, enhancing the purpose of basic foods. The market breaks into “better for you” products such as “baked not fried”, “low sugar” and functional products like fortified juices and protein shakes. Most large food players have adopted functionalisation in their product portfolio to differentiate, and drive value for consumers, says the EY report.

Fox nuts and protein bars

Fox nuts, or makhana, is one such healthy snack the Indian market cannot seem to get enough of.

“I think makhana led the healthy snacks revolution. It just became successful very quickly,” says Aditya Sanghavi, founder of Mumbai-based Snackible.

Alarm bells went off in Sanghavi’s head in 2015 when he saw how much junk food they ordered at work. This, in turn, led him to realise that most healthy snacks were imported and hence, overpriced.

Snackible operates in the mid-income segment, offering reasonably priced healthy snacks. In 2017, the brand moved from a subscription model to an online D2C retail platform, and flavoured makhana has always been one of its bestsellers.

Despite being heavy on the pocket and having a neutral taste profile, makhana has shot to popularity, becoming a regular feature even in wedding gift hampers, points out Bhuvnesh Aggarwal, founder, PPB Salona Feast, which supplies fox nuts to several brands. Smaller D2C brands like Kiaan Marketing, which have come up in the past two years, have also seen a phenomenal rise in sales of flavoured makhana.

Like fox nuts, the adoption rate of protein bars, often touted as a fitness enthusiast’s best friend, has also gone up. “Protein bars and milkshakes contributed to over 70 per cent of our revenue in 2021. The protein bars category continues to be bestselling,” says Ankit Chona, founder of Phab, a homegrown protein supplement brand that has seen a four-fold year-on-year growth in 2021.

FMCG behemoths stake a claim

As smaller labels gain ground in the growing market, some larger FMCG brands have moved fast, too.

In January, nacho brand Cornitos launched Crusties — baked snacks made from rajma, chickpea, and potato.

“We have seen a growth rate of 30 per cent in our seeds and nuts category over last year, compared to 10 per cent in the nachos category,” says Vikram Agarwal, managing director, Cornitos. But consumer taste profiles haven’t changed much, he adds. So, the brand launched Crusties in flavours like “dilli chaat” and “king curry”. “The core idea was to stick to indigenous and staple Indian flavours for guilt-free snacking,” says Shobhit Agarwal, director, Cornitos.

In early February, Dabur also announced its entry into the snacking category, with offerings like chia and pumpkin seeds under its Real portfolio.

Snacking is a highly impulse purchase and highly impulse consumption behaviour, says Sanghavi of Snackible. Keeping that in mind, the brand has decided to keep innovating to offer unique products — from chikoo chips to peanut butter nankhatai.

As competition grows, those into conscious snacking are spoilt for choice.