Conagra Brands’ second annual snacking study identifies bold flavour, functional benefits and simpler ingredients as defining forces in the US snack aisle.
Conagra Brands, Inc. has published its second annual Future of Snacking report, examining how flavour, function and ingredient preferences are reshaping the $198.2 billion US snacking market. The company’s analysis positions snacking as the largest eating occasion in the United States, with people turning to snacks across the day rather than only between meals. Its findings point to a category increasingly shaped by individual priorities, from protein and energy to indulgence and comfort.
The report groups the market into three broad forces: bold flavours, functional fuel and permissible indulgence. Conagra says consumers are seeking more surprising combinations, with elevated comfort flavours such as chocolate peanut butter, cinnamon bun and cookie butter growing 6.4 per cent during the past year. Sweet-and-spicy profiles are also gaining ground, with chili lime representing approximately $1 billion in annual sales and sweet chili approaching $400 million.
Functional benefits form a second important strand of the research. Products associated with protein, energy, digestion and hydration reached $19 billion in retail sales and grew 12.7 per cent compared with the prior year, while high-protein snacks generated $12.1 billion. Conagra’s examples include products such as BiGS Hot Honey Sunflower Seeds and Duke’s Grassfed and Finished Beef Sticks + Bone Broth, illustrating how established snack formats are being connected with stronger flavour and nutritional cues.
The third force reflects a less binary approach to treating and wellness. Snacks featuring recognisable ingredients, simpler formulations and fewer artificial additives represent approximately $69.4 billion in annual sales, while products carrying more specific nutrition cues account for an additional $71.7 billion. Conagra also identifies rising interest in seed-oil-free options, noting that products containing avocado oil have increased volume by 82 per cent over the past three years, alongside continued traction for grass-fed meat snacks.
The analysis draws on more than 53 million shopping transactions across 17,000 snacking products, combined with retail sales, eating occasions, search activity, restaurant menu trends, digital behaviour, artificial-intelligence conversations and social engagement. That breadth allows Conagra to connect what people buy with the motivations surrounding those choices, rather than treating flavour, wellness and convenience as separate markets. For the company, the findings provide a framework for developing snacks that combine taste, function and perceived ingredient quality as the category continues to widen.
