If you find yourself constantly snacking on crackers, fruit, and protein bars, you’re not alone. More young people are swapping breakfast, lunch, and dinner for snacks. Millennials and Generation Z are eating about 10% more snacks daily compared with other generations, according to new findings from the U.S.-based food company Mondelez. That means big business for the snack industry.
We’ve become a nation of snackers, transitioning from having three square meals a day to grazing through morning and night, says Jesse Newman, a reporter covering food and agriculture for the Wall Street Journal.
“Younger generations, they're just looking for convenience, for easy options that they can grab to fuel them in their lives as they're on the go, that also just don't require the effort of cooking a meal,” Newman explains.
The top two snack categories include potato and tortilla chips. And it turns out that young people do think of them as meal replacements.
Newman says the trend has turned into financial gains for manufacturers: “These companies have seen the biggest increase in their sales compared to some of the more established, meal focused-companies, some of which have snacks as part of their portfolio.”