From high-protein snacks to reformulated bakery products, manufacturers are innovating around shifting consumer needs rather than traditional category boundaries.
With healthier snacks increasingly becoming the norm, brands are competing to innovate across multiple dimensions, including nutrition, taste, affordability and convenience, at once.
Historically, innovation in snacks and bakery often meant launching a new flavor, limited-time offering or package design. Today, those moves are now part of a broader innovation strategy shaped by consumers’ dynamic eating habits.
The idea that consumers are choosing between indulgence and health is no longer a purchasing driver, argued panelists during a webinar hosted by Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery.
Rather, the same consumer is choosing products at different moments throughout the day, seeking protein in the morning, a treat at night, convenience during a busy work day or cleaner ingredients when shopping for the family.
“The same consumer is using snacks for all of these different reasons,” Cindy Kuester, president and CEO, SNAC International, said.
The snacking shift is significant. Snacks now account for half of all eating occasions, while 30% more consumers are seeking new foods higher in protein than last year, according to Circana data 52 weeks ending Dec. 28, 2025.
“This isn’t an either-or customer. This is the same customer. They’re looking for a high-protein snack in the afternoon, but they might want chips with lunch,” she added.
Snacks must do more
The new innovation battleground is relevance, explained Sally Lyons Wyatt, global EVP and chief advisor for consumer goods and foodservice insights, Circana.
“Consumers are asking snacks to do more jobs than ever before, and all at the same time,” Lyons Wyatt said.
Products like high-protein snacks, meat snacks, functional foods, portion-controlled products and snacks that behave as mini meals reflect a consumer looking for solutions within the category. For brands, innovation is increasingly need-state driven versus category driven.
“The same consumer is using snacks for all of different reasons. They’re not those new categories that we sometimes use when we talk about the market. They’re making decisions based on real life, their everyday moments, what they want right then,” Kuester said.
Innovation means technical expertise
At the same time, reformulation is pushing innovation to be more technical as manufacturers respond to changing consumer expectations around ingredients and colors.
While reformulation often goes unnoticed by the public, manufacturers are evaluating alternative ingredients, preserving taste and texture without changing the original sensory experience, maintaining affordability and managing supply-chain constraints.
For many brands, the challenge isn’t necessarily creating something new but changing a product without consumers noticing, Kuester notes.
Yet, communication from brands remains critical. Mars, for example, announced its naturally colored M&Ms do not contain blue or brown, highlighting the current supply chain does not support natural alternatives for those specific hues.
As Kuester noted, consumers often eat with their eyes first. A color change alone can impact perceptions, regardless of whether the taste changes, as illustrated by the infamous Clear Pepsi misstep.
In some categories like bakery, growth is increasingly driven more by new products, according to Katie Ferrall, director of client insights, Circana. While existing products have historically driven a category, innovation is becoming the main growth engine.
For bakery brands, innovation means balancing familiarity with novelty. Flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, caramel, sourdough and jalapeno remain recognizable to customers, but can be elevated through premium positioning, functional benefits or new formats.
