Half (50%) of adults claim to snack in the evening after dinner, down from 2017 levels where almost 6 in 10 (55%) adults claimed to snack at this time of the day.
Recent research on behalf of Retail Intelligence by Empathy Research, amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+, sought to understand which demographics have contributed to this change in snacking behaviour and what foods are being consumed at this occasion.
In terms of demographics more likely to snack in the evening, females (54%) continue to be more likely than males (47%) to snack at this time, with decreases in both genders evident from the levels recorded in 2017. Those aged 45-54 are most likely to snack at this time, with just over 6 in 10 (61%) claiming to do so, unchanged from 2017. All other age groups are closely aligned to the overall total who claim to snack at this time.
Snacking in the evening is more likely to be driven by snacking on sweet options and generally appears to be a time for indulgence or treating, with almost half (47%) of those who snack at this time of the day, consuming chocolate (unchanged year-on-year). There are almost 4 in 10 (39%) who snack on biscuits or crisps in the evening.
Males are more likely to snack on biscuits (44%), while females are more likely to snack on chocolate at this time of the day (53%). However, there is some evidence that evening snacking can also be healthy, some 1 in 5 (20%) who snack during the evening snack on fruit, with 16% snacking on nuts/seeds, although evening fruit snacking is significantly more likely to be evident amongst those aged 65+ (45%).
For further information and more in-depth analysis of consumer behaviour when it comes evening snacking and other snacking behaviours, please contact Robbie Clarke at Empathy Research.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.