Mini Meals & Snacks for Millennials: A Trend Spotlight
Mini Meal Trend Goes Mega - Grab-and-go snacks and meal sales are not just booming in the grocery deli department. Impulse-driven food sales by time-starved millennials has helped bring about the availability of nutritious, tasty meals and snacks in non-traditional places like transportation hubs (train stations, airports), hospitals, service stations, schools/colleges, etc.
- Snacking occasions continue to increase, with 83 percent of consumers snacking daily in 2016, compared to 76 percent in 2014.
- Deli is the fastest-growing perimeter department, with convenient, innovative products continuing to be key elements of the department's success and growth.
The food industry continues to see positive change in terms of eco packaging and sustainability. One of the fastest growing trends is offering more eco-friendly packaging and food containers and today's millennial generation expects this with their grab-and-go healthy snacks and mini-meals.
According to a Technomic survey,
"The top triggers that prompt consumers to purchase grab-and-go items include more options, less time to cook, higher quality offerings, less time to dine in at restaurants, and improvement in grab-and-go packaging. In other words, grab-and-go items are becoming part of consumer's routines."
Vendors and operators who make the switch to open-front, easy-to-access grab-and-go display units instead of closed-door displays boost their bottom lines - some by as much as a 50 percent sales increase, according to Foodservice Equipment & Supplies.
