nosh nook #35 - friday, may 1, 2009

snacks gain consumer clout (link)
04.30.09 - adweek - by convenience store news staff

what a time to be a snack!  snacks are totally popular!  i mean, they went from totally geek...to totally chic!  of course, people have always loved a little nosh & nibble here & there, but these days, people demand more from their snacks & in return, their snacks have not let them down.  in an effort to cater to our increasingly divergent needs, they've become healthier & fancier & definitely more EXTREME.

as adweek explains, a recent study by the center for culinary development (ccd) & packaged facts (convenience store news) showed that the importance of snacks has increased along with the go-go pace of the american lifestyle.  with less time to prepare foods & more need for sustenance to keep us go-go-going, snacks often step in to fill the between-meal void.  the study also found that while there's recently been an explosion of healthy snacks flooding the market, members of generation y go for "highly nutritious seaweed snacks," while their parents go for the less exotic whole grain snacks.

i definitely utilize snacks as a part of my a diet, as i prefer a bunch of snacks & small meals throughout the day rather than a couple huge meals that make me want to explode.  living in nyc, it's often hard or impossible to make it home & prepare a meal at "normal" meal hours, so rather than blow all my money eating out, i use snacks as a way to delay my meals until i can get home...the healthier, the better.  so yeah, i don't play by the rules, but i guess a lot of other people don't either.  usda recommended three balanced meals & food pyramid be damned!