Manufacturers targeting combined demand for convenience and health
The growing influence of consumer concerns about health is set to drive a continued shift in emphasis in sweet biscuits, snack bars and fruit snacks over the forecast period. Manufacturers are set to target the rising demand for convenient but healthy snacking options, underlined by the dynamic forecast performance of fruit and nut bars, through innovation and brand positioning, with new product developments expected to include varieties such as high-fibre, reduced-salt, whole wheat, sugar-free, lower-fat, and gluten-free products. In addition, energy bars are expected to prosper in an environment that is becoming increasingly favourable to products perceived as functional.
Fruit snacks have a “natural” advantage
The increase in consumer health-awareness is going hand-in-hand with a growing interest in products containing “natural” ingredients. Fruit snacks is at an advantage in this context, providing a convenient and naturally healthy on-the-go snacking solution for busy consumers. As a result, dried fruit is expected to attract increasing interest from producers over the forecast period, with processed fruit snacks, a negligible category at the end of the review period, also a potential area for investment.
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COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Local player extends lead
Empresas Carozzi extended its lead over second-placed Nestlé Chile in 2018. The company has a portfolio of several brands, but has largely focused on the widely recognised and trusted Costa label in its development across sweet biscuits, snack bars and fruit snacks. Costa is the second largest sweet biscuits brand in Chile, behind Nestlé’s McKay, but also dominates cereal bars and fruit and nut bars, as Empresas Carozzi has leveraged the brand’s equity across its strong distribution network.
Snack bars players expand strongly
The most dynamic players in sweet biscuits, snack bars and fruit snacks were strongly focused on the snack bars category. Nutrimarket continued to dominate sales of energy bars, a category which it pioneered in the Chilean market, in 2018, while its closest rival, Comercializadora Novaverde, more than doubled its category sales during the year. Tresmontes Lucchetti, meanwhile, expanded dynamically in cereal bars, having first made an impression on the category in the previous year.
Intensifying competition in growth areas
Health-orientated innovation and the (re)positioning of brands with a health focus will be key factors in the development of sweet biscuits, snack bars and fruit snacks over the forecast period. Major sweet biscuits players, such as Empresas Carozzi, are likely to increasingly shift their emphasis towards healthier alternatives and develop products in areas such as fruit and nut bars and cereal bars. This will place growing competitive pressure on smaller, more specialised players, although such companies have the opportunity to build positive images of small-scale production and authenticity in the context of growing scepticism about large-scale brands amongst health-conscious consumers.
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