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As the snack industry pivots toward healthier options, R&D is charged with innovating indulgence to meet consumers’ dual demands for indulgence and health.
The demand for better-for-you indulgent snacks is one of the key consumer trends reshaping the snack industry. Around one in four European consumers is seeking healthier versions of cookies, sweet biscuits, pastries, cakes, and other indulgent baked goods,1 while many who currently eat better-for-you sweet baked goods have increased their consumption in the past year
| Sweet Baked Good | More Often |
|---|---|
| Muffins, better-for-you | 40% |
| Brownies, better-for-you | 35% |
| Cookies, better-for-you | 31% |
Millennials and Gen Z account for the majority of sweet snacking occasions, with Millennials the most likely to be seeking better-for-you indulgence or functional benefits from a snack.3 Our Consumer U&A Study shows nearly half of better-for-you bakery snacking occasions stem from pleasure need states, such as seeking a relaxing moment or a guilt-free treat.4 This makes it essential that these snacks deliver on taste or satisfaction.
Achieving this balance between health and indulgence in sweet snacks relies upon R&D innovation. R&D teams must integrate food science, nutrition science, and consumer insights to create healthier, irresistible versions of popular snacks like cookies, muffins, and cakes—often through innovative ingredient choices and formulation techniques.
In developing healthier sweet baked goods, several common food science challenges can arise, particularly while reducing sugar or fat and boosting fiber or protein. Each modification can affect the product's taste, texture, and shelf stability.
To counter the impact of reduced sugar, for example, product developers may use a high-intensity, non-nutritive sweetener to maintain sweetness, possibly in conjunction with a flavor masking solution. A bulking agent like inulin can help retain moisture. Inulin, gums, and modified starches also provide a strategy for maintaining texture and mouthfeel after fat reduction.
When fortifying with fiber, the biggest challenge is increased water absorption, leading to a dry, crumbly, and dense texture. Flavor impacts and color darkening are additional problems. Combining multiple fibers has become a popular approach to minimizing these effects, with product developers drawing on resistant starch, inulin, and whole wheat flour. Adjusting the leavening may also be required.
Increasing protein content is also complex, potentially impacting taste and texture. This has typically limited the amount of protein added to a sweet baked good. An ingredient innovation that solves this issue is OvenPro Sweet Goods, which supports high and source of protein claims while providing superior texture and flavor.
As a functional protein solution designed specifically for bakery applications, OvenPro™ Sweet Goods can be used as a partial or total replacement for flour in cookies, muffins, brownies, scones, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, and more, with excellent shelf stability.
The future of the snack industry depends on understanding what consumers want and how to achieve it. Since innovative ingredients can be critical in developing better-for-you sweet snacks that can satisfy consumers’ pleasure need states, we invite you to partner with us to solve real product development challenges.
R&D innovation partnerships can guide the healthy snacking sector toward a future where indulgence and nutrition go together naturally. Contact Glanbia Nutritionals to learn more about our solutions, share with us your product development challenges, or discuss emerging consumer trends that will shape the future of healthy snacking.