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Glanbia Nutritionals' consumer study on healthy snacking trends in Japan gathered insights from 800 consumers to understand the consumer landscape, perceptions of healthy snacks, and the role of protein in snacking.
Our study first explored the breakdown of consumers in Japan based on activity level and motivation, since this is often a factor in healthy snack choices. The consumer landscape consists of inactive lifestyle (49%), healthy lifestyle (21%), active lifestyle (25%), and sports performance (5%) consumers.
| Consumer Category | Proportion of Consumers | Types of Activities Engaging In |
|---|---|---|
| Inactive Lifestyle | 49% | Cognitive exercises |
| Healthy Lifestyle | 21% | Walking, yoga, hiking |
| Active Lifestyle | 25% | Walking, yoga, running, strength training |
| Sports Performance | 5% | HIIT, spins, strength training |
The motivations Japanese consumers have for staying active can be seen as a spectrum. Healthy lifestyle consumers are motivated by mobility, physical maintenance, and weight management, while active lifestyle consumers are after mobility, physical performance, weight management, and cognition. Sports performance consumers cite performance and weight management as their motivations.
We also looked at what Japanese consumers consider to be healthy snacks. Dairy products, fruit-based beverages, and protein-fortified products came out on top as the healthiest types of snacks. Among these healthy snacks, protein-fortified products are trending up.
A quarter to a third of Japanese consumers report increasing their consumption over the past year of a number of protein-fortified snacks—including RTD protein shakes, protein shakes from powder, protein-infused waters, and protein/energy bars. This trend indicates a growing number of consumers are becoming interested in healthy snacking.
Download our Snacking Guide for a comprehensive look at the snack market, including key snack trends like conscious indulgence.
While Japanese consumers perceive protein snacks as healthy (e.g., 76% say protein/energy bars are healthy, and 68% say protein shakes from powder are healthy), only 14% consume protein-fortified products regularly (i.e., at least once a week). Consumers ages 26 to 37 are the most likely to use these products.
The positive perception toward protein-fortified products and the growing interest in healthy snacking in Japan indicate a significant category growth opportunity. Currently, regular users of protein-fortified products include 31% of sports performance, 28% of active lifestyle, and 25% of healthy lifestyle consumers. Among inactive lifestyle consumers, only 4% are regular users.
Protein can play different roles and meet a variety of consumer needs. For example, while you might expect consumers to look to protein for exercise support, its uses are much broader. For protein bars, our findings show that post-workout is indeed the largest occasion for use but that bars are also used across multiple occasions for their role in energy, satiety, meal replacement, and better-for-you treating.
Like protein bars, protein snacks (such as protein-fortified cookies) have a very broad usage. However, the top protein snack occasions are while watching TV, playing video games, and using the computer at home—not workout support. Getting balanced nutrition, having morning energy and fuel for the day, and enjoying a better-for-you treat are popular reasons Japanese consumers reach for protein snacks.
For protein shakes (both RTD and those made from powder), post- and pre-workout are the top two usage occasions for Japanese consumers. Compared with protein bars and snacks, building muscle and supporting recovery are much more likely to drive the use of protein shakes. Still, there are consumers using protein shakes for lower intensity occasions such as working, studying, and reading.
As the protein snacking trend picks up in Japan, brands that want to tap into this opportunity can keep in mind the many reasons and ways Japanese consumers are using protein snacks. While the health and nutrition aspect is important, great taste is also key to expanding protein-fortified products in the snacking realm.
Learn how our bar solutions—which range from functional dairy proteins to custom premixes —can help you in developing protein snacks that Japanese consumers will love. Contact us to get started today.