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It’s full speed ahead for the healthy snack market as consumers embrace healthier eating habits through simple snack choices. Check out the 2025 healthy snacking trends, from protein pretzels and popcorn to better-for-you brownies and cookies.
Keurig Dr Pepper’s acquisition of Ghost, a popular beverage brand known for its bold, health-conscious offerings, and PepsiCo’s purchase of Siete Foods, a trailblazer in healthy Mexican-American snacks, highlight a growing trend: major CPG companies are leveraging the innovation and authenticity of smaller, health-focused brands to revitalize their portfolios.
These partnerships underscore consumers’ changing preferences and signal a race among large CPGs to stay ahead in the evolving market. The implications are far-reaching, with the potential to reshape market dynamics and expand consumers’ access to healthier, more diverse snack options.
While taste and texture remain central to the snacking experience, consumers increasingly gravitate toward better-for-you versions. A significant proportion of US consumers are trying to consume more protein (56%), more fiber (53%), less sugar (58%), and fewer carbs (47%),1 a trend that’s carrying through to their snack choices.
As a result, new use and increased consumption are on the rise for protein-fortified savory snacks (like protein crackers, pretzels, chips, and popcorn), savory bean snacks (like lentil and chickpea chips and puffs), low-carb/keto chips, and protein cheese puffs and chips.2
| Type of Better-for-You Snack | % US Consumers Who Use These Products | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Started Using Within Past Year | More Often | About the Same | |
| Protein crackers | 18% | 26% | 40% |
| Protein pretzels | 15% | 32% | 32% |
| Low-carb/keto chips | 14% | 34% | 39% |
| Lentil chips and puffs | 14% | 32% | 40% |
| Diet/weight loss bars | 14% | 38% | 30% |
| Protein cheese puffs and chips | 13% | 29% | 36% |
| Low carb/keto bars | 13% | 32% | 39% |
| Protein popcorn | 12% | 43% | 34% |
| Chickpea chips and puffs | 10% | 22% | 51% |
| Protein chips | 9% | 40% | 38% |
| Protein bars | 8% | 27% | 50% |
| Better-for-you cookies | 8% | 33% | 48% |
| Better-for-you brownies | 6% | 38% | 41% |
Better-for-you sweet snacking is also growing, with increasing consumption rates and new users seen for weight loss, low carb, and protein bars, as well as for sweet baked goods like better-for-you cookies and brownies.3
In addition, the healthier positioning seems to be driving permissibility in snacks. Research shows that when consumers indulge in sweet or savory snacks that provide a functional benefit, they do so at a higher frequency.4
Consumers’ continued interest in protein is a major driver of today’s healthy snacking trends. While there are different strategies for developing a healthier snack, adding protein has become a popular choice due to its immediate impact on consumer perception.
Since consumers see protein as an indicator of healthiness,5 chips, cookies, and bars featuring a protein claim or the grams of protein on the package stand out as a better choice. Consumers associate protein with satiety, weight management, strength, muscle support, energy, healthy immunity, and more, with interest in a wide variety of protein sources, from dairy to plant-based proteins.
Balancing nutrition and indulgence is often the main R&D challenge in developing healthier snacks. While “high in protein/good source of protein” is consumers' second most sought attribute in a better-for-you sweet snack, for example, “great taste” is still number one.6
Quest and Magic Spoon are brands that achieved this balance through ingredient solutions similar to our functionally optimized protein powders to meet their high protein targets while minimizing negative impacts on product texture and taste. Collaboration with ingredient suppliers in this way allows brands to focus on exciting consumers through flavor and format innovation. to meet their high protein targets while minimizing negative impacts on product texture and taste. Collaboration with ingredient suppliers in this way allows brands to focus on exciting consumers through flavor and format innovation.
Understanding consumer needs and behaviors around snacking is another key component of addressing healthy snacking trends. For example, 39% of healthy snacking occasions are motivated by a need for pleasure (versus energy management (36%) or goal support (25%)).7
Healthier savory snacks (including high-protein cheese snacks and low-carb/high-protein chips) and better-for-you bakery items are consumers’ most frequent choices for the pleasure need space.8 Utilizing consumer data to guide product development can help brands create products that align well with consumers’ needs.
Today’s healthy snacking trends point to exciting opportunities in expanding and innovating in savory protein snacks and better-for-you baked goods aimed at pleasure-seeking occasions like relaxing at home and socializing with friends.
Formulating bars with weight managing low-carb and protein benefits, especially with added functional ingredients and creative flavors, is another high-growth area. The convenient format and customization potential of bars keep this healthy snack a favorite for those interested in goal support.
Companies emphasizing collaboration among departments and ingredient partners are well-positioned to succeed in the healthy snack market. Contact Glanbia Nutritionals to learn how our healthy snack solutions can help you.
Protein-fortified bars, bites, cookies, and brownies are all good protein snacks. Protein snacking is growing more and more popular, appealing to people on many fronts. Protein snacks are a healthy way to tide you over until mealtime; they provide satiety to help with weight management, and they support muscle recovery after a workout. The sweeter protein snacks like protein cookies and brownies also offer permissible indulgence.
Healthy snacks to eat at night are foods that are convenient, nutritious, and keep you full through the night. Snacks that contain protein or fiber are especially effective at providing satiety. Examples of healthy nighttime snacks are protein bars and bites, yogurts, and snacking cereals with added fiber or protein.
Healthy snacking cheese is cheese in a convenient, portable format, available in a small serving size, that delivers nutritional or even functional benefits. Healthy snacking cheeses range from traditional string cheese that comes individually wrapped to next-gen cheese snacks like baked or dried 100% cheese bars, puffs, and crisps.
While all cheese is known for the nutritional benefits of protein and calcium, some newer snacking cheeses in the market (“plus” cheeses) also offer extra nutrients like vitamins A and B12 or functional ingredients like probiotics. In addition, some healthy snacking cheeses come in exciting sweet or savory flavors, while others are paired with nuts, dried fruits, meats, and crackers in combo packs.
Healthy snacks for toddlers are foods that are convenient, easy to eat, often mild in taste, and meet the nutritional needs of toddlers. According to the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a toddler’s diet should be rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, dairy or fortified soy alternatives, and protein foods—and that includes snacks.
Since iron and zinc are especially important at this stage of life, healthy snacks for toddlers, as well as toddler meals, might be fortified with these and other essential nutrients. Today’s most popular healthy snacks for toddlers include fruit and vegetable purees, yogurts, cereals, cereal bars, and snack crackers.
