Global economic and geopolitical conditions have resulted in increased demands from consumers all over the world for affordable options, even within the snacking market which maintained stable popularity after seeing rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, moving to simply slash prices is not a feasible strategy given rising ingredient costs as well as parallel consumer demands for product taste and health to remain as good if not better than status quo – so many brands have had to look to other strategies to make this happen.
“The demands from consumers in the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region are really changing very fast, and particularly their expectations of snacks are almost changing from year to year,” Mondelez VP for Strategy and Commercial Excellence AMEA Tomas Centeno told FoodNavigator-Asia after presenting the results of the company’s latest State of Snacking report at Growth Asia Summit 2024.
“When it comes to snacking it is pivotal to allow consumers to make choices, which means that portfolio variety is absolutely crucial, and the wrong attitude would be to completely cut back on any particular segment of snacks.
“During economic downturns like we are seeing, the part of the business that provides affordable options is quite important as consumers want to choose products that they can afford comfortably – but it is tricky as these products not only need to have the right affordable prices, but also the right quality, and we need to hit all those factors at the same time.
“One of the findings from the report has been that around 67% of AMEA consumers are now looking for portion control in their snacks, and part of that need is to guarantee affordability as well as to portion the amount they are consuming.
“The affordability piece is very important as it is key to retaining loyalty to our products, so we need to continuously adapt to these consumer needs, ensuring our consumers feel in control and that the products are affordable, so they stay loyal.”
Watch the video below to hear more about Mondelez’s stand on affordability.
Portion control also plays a major role in Mondelez’s push for the ‘Mindful Indulgence’ concept, which again leads back to consumers having control over their snacking.
“Indulgence is always given a bad rap but when it comes to salt and sugar consumers actually already know that too much is not a good thing, and tend to say these are acceptable as long as eaten mindfully,” he added.
“This can be seen through the finding that 75% of AMEA consumers actually prefer smaller portions of indulgent snacks than large portions of low-fat or low-sugar alternative versions.
“Basically, they just want to be in control of their snacking and indulge in a healthy way instead of being told what they should eat or need to eat – this ties back to ensuring that there are many options available for consumers to choose from.”