Indulgence and health the driving factors in sweet biscuit growth, says Innova

There’s a paradox at work in the sweet biscuit market. According to Innova Market Insights, the ‘treat’ image of sweet biscuits is driving the premium sector forward, while consumer focus on health has seen an increase in healthier products.

Lu Ann Williams, Research Manager for Innova, suggests that consumers tend to ‘trade off’ by making mostly healthy food choices but rewarding themselves with an indulgent product such as chocolate biscuits. This, and the affordability of chocolate biscuits, has led to continued growth in the market in most countries, despite ongoing financial and health concerns.

In 2011, biscuits with chocolate content accounted for 48% of global sweet biscuit launches, down from over 60% five years earlier. This may be attributable to strong competition from other sweet snack products such as confectionery, cereal bars and cakes. However, the affordability and treat image of chocolate biscuits means they appeal to consumers as both store cupboard and impulse purchases, meaning the market continues to perform relatively well during a time of economic difficulty.

Growing consumer demand for health products has driven improved nutritional profiles of many standard products, and Innova speculates that this may have inhibited growth in the specific healthier or better-for-you biscuits market. Innova reported that nearly 30% of biscuit launches globally had a health focus, rising to over 40% for savoury biscuits and falling to just over a quarter for sweet biscuits.

The most common health claims related to the lack of artificial additives or preservatives and general naturalness of the product, accounting for over 30% of launches for biscuits carrying health claims. Products with these kinds of health claims made up 12% of biscuit launches as a whole.

Low-fat, low-sugar, low-sodium and low-calorie launches were also popular, with low-fat being the most popular of these types of claim. Whole grain ingredient claims came in at third place, Innova said, followed by gluten-free and organic products. Whole grain, gluten-free and organic product launches have increased substantially over the past five years, with gluten-free the biggest growth area.

The popularity of gluten-free products continues to rise, Innova said, with biscuits being fairly central to this growth, due to the traditional use of wheat flour presenting an opportunity for gluten-free alternatives. Gluten-free biscuits accounted for over 4% of total biscuit launches recorded by Innova in 2011.