Biscuits & cookies: Finding the sweet spot between health & indulgence
Covid-19 brought about a change in consumer priorities. It was observe that there is an increased focus on preventive health, physical fitness and psychological wellbeing. Nearly half of Indians say they put a lot of thought into what they eat and are actively seeking ways to reduce stress. This demand for mental wellness and psychological wellbeing has also amplified the need for indulgence with 44% of Indian consumers are reported regularly eating indulgent foods in 2020.
As a result, there is a rise in consumer demand for health as well as indulgence in food and drinks categories. This is especially evident in indulgent snack categories such as sweet biscuits and cookies, confectionery and extruded snacks. Biscuit makers can address this consumer demand by adding permissibility to indulgence, capitalising on health trends with BFY innovations and catering to consumers’ appetite for new experiences.Address consumers’ appetite for new experiences with flavours, textures and formats When it comes to flavour innovation, keeping it simple and familiar is the key to success in India. A new spin on a familiar flavour is likely to have greater acceptance than a radically new flavour. Having said that, fusing global and Indian flavours can excite and engage consumers, especially in lower-tier cities.
Beyond flavours, brands can also excite the market by experimenting with formats with 40% of Indians agreeing that new formats of biscuits and cookies would encourage them to eat more of it. Brands can look at innovating formats in cookies with more than one-third of Indian consumers thinking that cookies are an ideal replacement for desserts, blurring the lines between a cookie and a dessert.
By exploring novel formats, textures and flavours while tapping into consumer sentiment between health and indulgence, a bite of biscuits and cookies can become a more enjoyable and guilt-free experience for Indians.
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