Source: freepik**: FDL Digital Food Claim (ID: Foodatalink).
Author: Father of Wasabi.
Salty, known as the first of the five flavors, plays a leading role in the five flavors, and it is both the purest and most important of the five flavors.
Zhang Mu of the Qing Dynasty expounded in "Regulating Disease and Diet": "Sour, sweet and hard are dispensable, and salty is indispensable for daily use; Sweet and sour, bitter and bitter have their own flavors, and salty can taste the five flavors. Sweet and sour, hard work is good temporarily, if you eat more, you will be disgusted, and if you eat for a long time, you will get sick; Illness does not quit, in fact, it is a day. Salty is a lifelong food that you will never get tired of eating and will not get sick. ”
Chinese stomachs prefer salty bites, and casual snacks are no exception.
According to Zhiyan Consulting's "Analysis of the Current Situation of China's Leisure Snack Industry in 2023", from the perspective of China's leisure snack market segment, the market share of flavored snacks is the largest, reaching 38%, and flavored snacks contain a variety of snack classifications, of which meat snacks and salty snacks account for more, with 10% and 8% respectively.
China's salty snack market is a bit lively, let's take a look at the development of salty in the global snack market.
According to Datam Intelligence's "Global Salty Snacks Market 2023-2030" research reportThe global savory snacks market was valued at 1882 in 2022$400 million, which is expected to reach $2,910 by 2030$8.7 billion。During the ** period (2023-2030), the market is trading at a rate of 56% CAGR growth. The global savory market is growing at a sustained and large-scale scale.
In the era of food industrialization, there is no food that can have the same rich flavor as savory snacks.
With consumers' growing love for savory snacks, many brands have also put the innovative development of savory snacks on the agenda, and tried to explore more unique flavor stories on top of salty snacks: salty milk tea, fermented bean curd, soy sauce ice cream, ......These are all inspirations for salty snacks across categories.
It can be glimpsed that the "expansion map" of savory snacks is slowly unfolding in front of us. Of course, after the brand released these inspirational signals, there are still some food development issues worth pondering.
Oil and salt play a key role in our daily diet. They are not only the basic materials for cooking, but also necessary for the proper functioning of the human body.
Especially for table salt, many chemical reactions in the body are inseparable from the participation of sodium ions and chloride ions. Therefore, mammals, including humans, need to consume the right amount of salt to maintain their vitality.
On the other hand, the application of table salt in daily life should not be neglected. Before the invention of canning and artificial refrigeration, salt was known to have antiseptic properties, and for thousands of years, salt became a must-have in human life.
In addition, the cooking of dishes is also inseparable from salt, because salt has the effect of enhancing taste, relieving greasy, and removing fish, and if salt is not added, the fresh flavor of the raw materials can not be fully stimulated. Other flavors are also inseparable from salt to add the right taste, and chefs even add a little salt to enhance the flavor when making sweet snacks, so there is a saying that "a good cook has a handful of salt".
The most obvious characteristic of salt is its salty taste. Studies have shown that the tongue perceives saltiness as follows: there are three main types of taste cells on the taste buds: glioids that sense saltiness, receptor cells that sense sweet and bitter umami, and presynaptic cells that sense acid. When table salt (NaCl) dissolves in the mouth, saliva carries sodium ions into taste bud receptor cells, activating neurons and transmitting signals to the center, resulting in salty taste perception.
Source: Zhihu.
Scientific studies have also confirmed that about 33% of people's perception of saltiness is influenced by genes, while the remaining 67% depends on lifestyle. Especially at the moment when eating habits and cultures are gradually converging and merging, the salty and fragrant foods with traditional characteristics such as hot pot, barbecue, marinated snacks, baked snacks, and casual snacks all over the streets and alleys not only bring consumers a rich and diverse taste bud experience, but also carry countless innovations and imaginations.
On the consumer side,According to the snack consumption survey report released by Cargill and Decision Analysts, 41 respondents said they preferred salty snacks, 38 respondents preferred sweets, and 21 respondents preferred a mix of the two, which shows that people have a high preference for salty foods.
Brands that are good at striking while the "hot" iron has seized the opportunity to extract innovative inspiration from China's broad and profound food culture, and through cross-border integration of products, they have created a series of salty snacks with great flavor characteristics for different segments and different consumption scenarios to meet the taste bud needs of consumers in more scenarios. "The more novel the taste, the more likely it is that snack producers will attract new consumers. Marcia Mogelonsky, director of market insights at Intel Corporation, a market research firm, once said.
There are many sharing scenarios of savory snacks, among which family and friends are the most important information channels that affect the purchase of savory snacks. At the same time, with the continuous development of social networking**, the influence of the younger generation of consumers on the purchase of savory snacks is also becoming increasingly prominent.
Nowadays, the post-95s and post-00s are becoming the new "consumption responsibility", and fresh and peculiar tastes are one of the important criteria for them to buy snacks. Because of their own curious nature, salty snacks can often stand out because they don't take the usual path and improve the possibility of getting out of the circle. Such as salty chocolate, soy sauce ice cream, salty yogurt, etc., these seemingly strange mix-and-match flavor products have earned a lot of attention as soon as they were launched.
For example, in the recently popular TV series "Flowers", fans of the flower drama are still unsatisfied with the salty food - fermented bean curd, which is always popular with Bao, and they continue to explore similar products until they drink the fermented bean curd.
This fermented bean curd yogurt jointly launched by Guanghe bean curd and yogurt jars, by adding fermented bean curd to the yogurt, and then with pineapple and Dahongpao extract, the peculiar salty and sour combination makes the heat of fermented bean curd yogurt continue to heat up, and Huang Qicheng, the co-founder of Lian Yogurt Jar, expressed great surprise at such a high heat.
Source: Xiaohongshu @ Yogurt cans are not only popular with bean curd-flavored yogurt,At present, cross-border flavor innovation inspired by savory has become a major feature of the yogurt track。For example, Yiming Real Fresh Milk Bar launched a very Ming salted green plum yogurt and salted green plum large fruit yogurt, which made the yogurt salty by adding salt to the fruit, focusing on "salt, sweet and sour", and achieved a "counterattack" in sales.
Before this, Mo Yogurt has also tried the "meat and milk" mixture**, and the product "Chestnut Beef Jerky Yogurt Shake" makes Inner Mongolia Horqin yellow beef into air-dried beef, shredded on the spot, added full chestnuts, and whipped into a yogurt shake with a rich milk base, which also triggered a wave of check-in spread on social platforms.
Source: Little Red Book.
In fact, the concept of savory snacks is broad, encompassing many categories, such as potato chips, popcorn, nuts, meat snacks, mixed salty snacks, soy lentil-based snacks, salty soda crackers, dried cheese snacks, etc., all of which are loved by consumers.
Salty snacks are growing rapidly in the domestic market and are also very popular abroadAccording to Kerry's 2023 Cheese-Flavored Savory Snacks Insight Report, potato chips and nuts are the most abundant salty snacks in the edible scene, and potato chips are mostly related to entertainment scenes, and nuts are mostly related to sociality and energy-requiring scenes. In 2023, the UK potato chips and savoury snacks market is estimated to be worth $34£8.3 billion; Nuts are worth 3£6.7 billion; Popcorn is worth 1£4.4 billion; Meat snacks are worth £60 million.
According to the latest market research report released by SNACMA, in the savory snack category, the "potato chips" category occupies the largest market share. At the same time, it has also maintained continuous development in terms of taste innovation.
In addition to potato chips, meat snacks are also the number one important member of the savory snack army.
According to JerkybrandsCOM's latest study: Meat consumption in snack form is set to reach its highest peak since 2012. Research shows that meat snack sales have increased by 40% over the past four years, from about $3.5 billion in 2019 to $4.9 billion in 2022. Savoury snacks, including meat snacks, are most popular in the afternoon (31%) and evening (26%).
Among the casual snacks, roasted nuts stand out with their high nutritional value, and the development momentum is stable and improving. The classic mainstream flavors of salt and pepper, spice, garlic, seaweed, etc., are all tastes recognized by the younger generation of consumers.
It is worth mentioning that five spices (fennel, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns), as a major spice in Chinese culinary culture, are being widely used in all kinds of snacks, baking and other products, and this kind of salty flavor is deeply rooted in the hearts of salty lovers.
Trader Joe has launched Snack Snacky Clusters, a snack consisting of sweet and savory ingredients, consisting of savory elements such as sea salt potato chips, salty corn chips and salt and pepper potato chips, each coated with a rich layer of milk chocolate to provide consumers with a unique flavor experience.
Source: TrendhunterPriyanka Chopra takes inspiration from Indian cuisine to create an Indian-inspired popcorn snack. The product is based on sweet and savory flavors, and cleverly incorporates spices such as red pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, turmeric, etc., which are familiar to consumers, and exudes a spicy and savory flavor experience in every bite. It is worth mentioning that turmeric is a common spice in regional Indian cuisine and is usually mixed with cardamom, coriander, cloves, saffron, and cumin to make curry.
Source: WellandGood Although countless consumers have a strong preference for salty food, under the pressure of busy work and life, frequent takeout makes people face unhealthy eating habits with high salt intake, and even form a "salt addiction".
Relevant studies have found that excessive salt consumption (10 grams per day) is directly related to the occurrence of high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, cerebral hemorrhage and stroke.
In addition to flavor, due to the influence of the health trend, the new generation of consumers is gradually more health-conscious, more preferring healthy and high-nutrient snack snacks, while more and more consumers are actively choosing to reduce salt intake.
When health has become the mainstream consciousness, on the basis of not abandoning saltiness, some brands have begun to find new business directions from the dimensions of target groups, sales channels, product positioning, technological innovation, etc., and continue to develop "low-salt" salty products. Not much to say, simply and rudely directly reduce salt
At present, the two core driving forces for the development of savory food are, on the one hand, based on the fascination of many consumers with innovative flavors, and on the other hand, the pursuit of taste pleasure, looking forward to a "guilt-free" snack consumption experience.
Salt reduction actually refers to sodium reduction, and salt is the main sodium reduction. Since saltiness is the basic taste, if you think of "saltiness" as a blank sheet of paper, you can reduce the salt content by incorporating different flavors on the blank paper to fill in the gaps.
A healthy instant food product with low salt and flavor, its salt content has been reduced by 25. It is reported that the noodles of the product are rounded in shape, smooth in taste, flexible and chewy, and the soup stock of the product is based on the deliciousness of chicken and pork, and the combination of onions, garlic, seasoned vegetables and spices is skillfully balanced, thereby reducing the addition of salt.
Source: sanyofoodsco.jpTechnology flows thinking to solve the current health pain points
Of course, salt, as the first of the five flavors, can not only stimulate the taste buds, but also have the function of preservative and masking other odors. Although consumers generally recognize the health benefits of "low salt", there are still concerns about the impact of salt reduction on the flavor experience of products.
In fact, the process of reducing salt in food is not an easy task. Due to the complex interactions between the various ingredients, they can have various effects on the taste buds. As a result, adjusting the content of an ingredient in a product formulation can lead to unexpected changes in taste and even a very different taste experience.
Therefore, in addition to reducing the amount of sodium in food, the salt reduction process is also supported by a technological stream – through the interaction of saltiness with other senses.
The Homeimiya***A7 lab at Meiji University in Japan has collaborated with beverage manufacturers to develop an innovative "flavored" chopstick that is unique in that it can increase the saltiness of food at the same concentration of table salt. In an experiment involving 36 volunteers, the researchers concluded that "the device improves the saltiness of low-sodium foods by about 1."5 times".
Source: Kirin Holdings In fact, the phenomenon of electric taste has been known to the world as early as 1752, and the faint stimulation of electric currents can change the taste experience of salty, sour, sweet and bitter. In addition to chopsticks, the research team also developed other tableware such as forks, teacups, and bowls to increase saltiness.
Source: Kirin Holdings and Zhihu lock the target group and position the product direction.
According to the snack consumption research report released by Cargill and Decision Analysts, among the factors influencing shopping decisions, the attributes that consumers pay primary attention to when choosing savory snacks include: all-natural (35%), low sodium (35%), high protein (35%), whole grain production (32%) and high fiber (32%).
WhileWhen parents buy savory snacks for their children, the main attributes they consider are: natural (54%), protein content (53%), high protein (51%), whole grain production (51%), and fiber content (45%).
Under the trend of healthy consumption, this also puts forward higher requirements for snacks, especially in terms of meeting the specific needs of different consumer groups, how to accurately target the target customer group and determine the product positioning has become the key to winning the competition.
It is understood that during the growth and development of children, the daily intake of sodium content is inversely proportional to the solute capacity of the kidneys, the higher the sodium content intake, the worse the dissolving ability of the kidneys, in order to avoid the children during the development of the kidneys to be overburdened, Dr. Cheese launched a low-salt and high-calcium (calcium-sodium ratio of up to 16) formula of "small round cheese" products, aiming to reduce sodium intake, protect children's kidney function, and more in line with the baby's dietary needs.
Source: Dr. Cheese savory market continues to heat up, and salty as a relatively novel snack flavor has a higher and higher market share. Digital Food advocates that in addition to the specific approach of incorporating local flavors, savory snacks also need to be empowered with the help of some more innovative ingredients and processes.
On the other hand, there is also a strong demand for high-end baked goods and healthy drinks, and the clever use of salty elements to create product differentiation points can also stimulate more consumer enthusiasm and inject more innovative vitality into the relatively conservative salty snack category.
References: 1Where does the saltiness of salt come from? Is it sodium or chloride?|Zhihu @ Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2Su Xijia: The food is average, and the salt is very valuable, so please taste it carefullyChina Europe International Business School 3A new idea for limiting salt ——— electric taste|Chinese Journal of Hypertension 4Triggered a large-scale "real fragrance" scene, and recently salty yogurt has become popular in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai!Kamen 5s**ory bacon-infused shakes : sonic peanut butter bacon shake6.Kerry Releases 2023 Cheese Savoury Snacks Insight Report7Cheese is ruling the stomach of young people|Value Planet Planet8The soaring "quail eggs" have become the second battlefield of Jinzai and Yanjin shopsFBIF Food & Beverage Innovation 9italian-inspired potato chips : kettle cooked potato chips10.U.S. New Generation Meat Snack Consumption Insights: Salty Meat Snacks Are Most Popular in the Afternoon and Evening|Meat Consumption Institute 11chip-fl**ored jerky snacks : jack link's x frito-lay12.smoky seafood seasonings : dan o sea soning13.The 42nd Japan Food HIT Awards 2023 is released!FDL Count Food Claim 14fine-tuned oat milk beverages : oat milk varieties15.Dr. Cheese Small Round Cheese has been upgraded to a new one, the No. 1 new product after the completion of the Super Factory!foodtalks16.Pepsi, Nestle, Kraft Heinz ......The giants unanimously want to reduce salt? The food industry can't stop being "salty"!foodtalks