It’s difficult to say no to snacks. As a small break between meals or simply for a little bit of gratification, snacks, both savoury and not, continue to grow in popularity. When considering potato chips, a typical savoury snack, the offer that the Italian industry makes is more of a homemade, rustic product, and with a prime choice of ingredients and taste. Furthermore, flavoured potato chips are becoming more popular, with new types such as rosemary and barbecue. But what is being strongly developed is the healthy snack area, without salt or gluten free, for vegetarians, vegans, the gluten intolerant, and for people who wish to have a healthy, balanced diet. One of the more recent developments is the vegetable snack, made with fried vegetables instead of the classic potato chips. Also in the aperitif snack area there are new developments. The new trends in the Italian snack market are perfectly in line with consumption trends overseas. According to a Mintel research done last May, savoury snacks are becoming the new comfort food of American consumers: three out of five (62%) consume them as a remedy for stress or boredom. Although, 94% of Americans buy savoury snacks, 13% substitute meals with them, and 74% are interested in healthier alternatives. In fact, three out of five (61%) agree with the fact that savoury snacks contain too many artificial ingredients, and four out of five (79%) believe it’s important to know the ingredients of the savoury snacks.
PALM OIL FREE, AN EMERGING TREND IN EUROPE – The palm oil (the fat present in many oven-baked products) debate is not slowing down, after Efsa (European Food Safety Authority) published their opinion on its health dangers. Aidepi (Italian association of the sweets and pasta industry) intervened to assure consumers that the products of Italian companies are safe. Efsa, recalls Aidepi, has not declared that vegetable oils, including palm oil, are in themselves cancer-causing or toxic; however in some procedures in which they reach high temperatures (above 200°C) they can develop process contaminants that can be harmful to your health.
POSITIVE CONFECTIONARY EXPORTS – In 2015, the Italian sweets industry released 2,008,600 tonnes of products onto the market (+0.2%) at a value of 13,880 million euro, a growth of +2.6% from the previous year. Leading the growth in volume was the ice-cream sector (+7.6%), whilst the main increase in value was seen in the production of ice cream, chocolate, and cocoa-based products. The confectionary sector, furthermore, confirms to be one of the more export-oriented elements of the Italian food & beverage sector: the incidence of export on the sales volume reached 27.1%, thanks to the superior quality of the Italian confectionary products that reached an export quota above 12% of the Italian food sector. In Europe, Italy continues to be among the main confectionery producers: it is fifth in confectionary production and third in chocolate production, as well as being the leader in the production of oven-baked goods.
