Snak or junk food? Americans are bombarded with new products

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Miniature Twinkies, Cocoa Puffs popcorn, Dr Pepper-flavored cotton candy: Food manufacturers know Americans are snacking more, and they’re busy pumping out irresistible new junk — er, snack — foods.
An explosion of new products is generating buzz and profits for food makers and surprise and delight for shoppers—but helping make Americans fatter and unhealthier than ever.
A bevy of new reports on U.S. eating habits conclude that snacking rose steeply during the COVID-19 pandemic — and has continued.
“The landscape of eating has fundamentally changed,” concludes a February report by the Hartman Group, a research consultancy that focuses on food and beverage culture.
“Eating occasions have become slightly more evenly spread out throughout the day, shifting consumption away from mealtimes.”
Consumers are looking for “unexpected flavor combinations,” “on-the-go snacks” and affordable indulgences, per C-Store Dive, a convenience store trade publication.
Cereal, chips and granola bars have turned into all-day snack foods rather than just breakfast or afternoon-break options.

Nestlé is using the term “smeals” to refer to small meals (or sizable snacks) that fit modern consumption habits.
PepsiCo is “seeing growth from our core of more indulgent products all the way to our much more health-forward products” when it comes to snacking, Parth Raval, chief growth officer for PepsiCo Foods North America, told Food Dive.
Newer products turn snacks into appealing toys, with colorful packaging, novel shapes and modern flavors — Spicy cheese! Sweet chili! Asiago cheese! Buffalo cauliflower!
Frito-Lay introduced fun-sized versions of Doritos, Cheetos and SunChips; Hostess Bouncers are a new line of bite-sized Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Donettes.
The Flamin’ Hot Cheetos empire recently expanded with a new flavor called “tangy chili fusion,” while Takis super-spicy rolled corn chips keeps coming out with new flavor and packaging options. (The latest — introduced Monday — is Intense Nacho, but previous innovations included limited-edition color-changing chips in “scorpion BBQ” and “volcanic cheese.”)
The popularity of co-branding has brought us products like Reese’s Dipped Animal Crackers, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bugles and Morningstar Farms’ plant-based Chik’n Fries coated with Pringles.