The Chinese snack market continues to expand, with retail sales expected to reach RMB969.9bn in 2024. However, the growth rate is slowing, dropping to 2.9% from 4.8% in 2023. Despite the economic environment challenging consumer confidence, innovations in segments such as marinated snacks, nuts and dried fruits have become key drivers of market growth. Baked foods and seed products also performed very strongly, brightening up the overall market. Consumers’ brand preferences have become polarised: high-premium internet-famous brands and imported brands are sought after for their uniqueness, while supermarket own brands representing outstanding value for money are also attracting significant attention. Brands must find a balance between product innovation and cost control to meet diverse consumer needs.
Key Topics Analysed in the Report
- Snacks market size and factors
- Performance of snack market segments and categories
- Overview of snack categories
- Consumer awareness of and demand for healthy snacks
- Snack consumption occasions and emotional impact
Meet the Expert Behind the Analysis
This report is written by Vera Zheng. As Mintel’s Senior Food & Drink Analyst, Vera focuses on innovations and trends impacting the Chinese food market. Prior to Mintel, she served as a research consultant at an ecommerce company. She also has experience in strategic planning at a Korean food company.
The Chinese snack market is characterised by a balance between health and pleasure. Brands must meet diverse consumer needs through focusing on functional benefits, emotional marketing and price diversification, injecting new momentum into the market.
Vera Zheng
Senior Analyst, China Insights
Report Scope
This report examines consumer snacking habits. Snacks are defined as small amounts of food consumed outside of the three main meals, typically taking a short amount of time to eat.
The calculation of the size of the packaged snacks market is based on the following categories:
- Marinated snacks (luwei)/meat jerky
- Nuts/seeds
- Fried/puffed snacks
- Pastries/desserts
- Candied/dried fruit
- Sugar confectionery
- Biscuits
- Chocolate
- Other (seafood snacks/local specialities etc)
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Executive summary
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Definition
- What you need to know
- Market size and factors
- Nuts, meat jerky and dried fruits drive steady growth
- Market factors
- Market segmentation
- Nuts/meat jerky/dried fruits drive market growth
- The consumer
- Consumer behaviour and demographics
- State of the market and development trends
- Issues and insights
- What we think
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The market
- Market size
- Nuts, meat jerky and dried fruits drive steady growth
- Market factors
- Consumers seek value for money in an unstable economy and job market
- Graph 1: ways that consumers save money on food and drink, 2023
- Graph 2: confidence influencers (first choice), 2022-24
- Premium value-for-money: an effective strategy to reduce costs
- Graph 3: Three Squirrels revenue and year-on-year growth, 2020-YTD24Q3
- Two giant snack chains expand rapidly across regional limits
- Agricultural product branding on the rise, with quality ingredients creating economic moats for brands
- Market segmentation
- Nuts/meat jerky/dried fruits drive market growth
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The consumer
- Overview of snack categories
- Sweet snacks are nearing saturation in terms of growth potential, while room for penetration remains in dairy snacks
- Graph 4: sweet snacks consumption frequency, 2025
- Salty snacks have development potential; soy and marinated snacks can expect increased consumption frequency
- Graph 5: salty snacks consumption frequency, 2025
- Profile of snack enthusiasts: 18-29, female, earning over RMB12,000/month
- Graph 6: portrait of snack enthusiasts by age/gender/income, 2025
- Graph 7: snack enthusiasts, by purchase channel, 2025
- Different regions have different tastes: sweet snack enthusiasts are concentrated in East China
- Graph 8: regional concentration of sweet/salty snack enthusiasts, 2025
- The primary driver for purchasing snacks is taste/texture, followed by health
- Graph 9: factors influencing snack purchases, 2025
- Women aged 30-39 focus on nutritional value and ingredient lists to keep their families healthy
- Graph 10: factors influencing snack purchases, by gender and age, 2025
- Women aged 25-39 seek convenient packaging for outdoor activities or work socialising
- Graph 11: snack consumption occasions, difference between women aged 25-39 and the overall group, 2025
- Graph 12: factors influencing snack purchases, by gender and age, 2025
- Domestic national brands and time-honoured brands are consumer favourites
- Graph 13: snack brand preferences, 2025
- Private label snacks are an ever-growing part of new launch trends
- Graph 14: proportion of private label snacks among new snack products, 2020-24
- Guochao remains robust, with accelerating iterations
- Graph 15: mentions of ‘guochao’ (国潮) on social media, in millions, 2023-24
- 25-29s prefer private label brands; 50-59s are highly accepting of white label products
- Graph 16: snack brand preferences, 2025
- Comprehensive supermarkets/platforms remain the main snack purchasing channels
- Graph 17: snack purchasing channels, 2025
- Nuclear families value a space to browse
- Graph 18: channels for purchasing snacks, by living situation, 2025
- Healthful snack trends
- Consumer attitudes towards healthful snacks
- Grade sweetness levels, giving consumers the right to control their sugar intake
- Parents look for reduced salt/sodium: pay attention to salt content in children’s snacks
- Graph 19: attitudes towards snack healthfulness, by family structure, 2025
- Protein and dietary fibre enjoy consumer recognition
- Graph 20: better-for-you snack attributes, 2025
- Growth areas: fewer additives, better nutrition
- Graph 21: share of health claims in new snack products, 2020-24
- Freshness and light processing methods: important to new mums
- Graph 22: better-for-you snack attributes, by family structure, 2025
- Probiotic ingredients feel healthiest, followed by nuts
- Graph 23: better-for-you snack ingredients, 2025
- Women are interested in superfoods and premium fats
- Graph 24: better-for-you snack ingredients, by difference in selection rate between women and men, 2025
- Snack enthusiasts have a strong demand for animal protein
- Graph 25: better-for-you snack ingredients, by consumer group, 2025
- Consumption occasions and emotional needs
- Sharing with others is a strong driver of snack consumption
- Graph 26: snack consumption occasions, 2025
- Snacks play different roles in different people’s lives
- Graph 27: consumption occasion preferences, by gender and age, 2025
- Snack enthusiasts have a much higher demand for snacks before or after exercise than consumers overall
- Graph 28: snack consumption occasions, by consumer group, 2025
- Sharing joy with others and relieving anxiety/stress are the most prominent emotional needs
- Graph 29: association of snack consumption occasions with emotional needs, 2025
- With strong demand to relieve stress at work, ‘destressing snacks’ might capture the hearts of working people
- Graph 30: snack consumption occasions, by emotional need, 2025
- Child-free individuals focus on treats, while new mums need soothing
- Graph 31: emotional needs during daytime leisure time alone, by family structure, 2025
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Issues and insights
- Core audience: provide high-quality options for snack enthusiasts
- Snack consumption is becoming more routine, and sweet and salty flavours both have fans
- Graph 32: % of snack consumer types, by taste preference, 2025
- Demand for snacks remains undimmed; snack enthusiasts drive growth
- Graph 33: changes in snack consumption expenditure, by consumer group, 2025
- Pragmatic consumption: seeking better, newer and higher value for money products
- Graph 34: snack brand preferences, by consumer group, 2025
- Sweet snacks: meet consumer demand for fine control of their sugar intake
- Strong momentum and opportunities for a healthy transformation
- Graph 35: proportion of consumers eating snacks several times per week, 2025
- A balancing act for sugar: the rational vs emotional mind
- Emotional value: new value for sweet snacks
- Graph 36: associations between product texture and emotion, 2025
- Demand for fine sugar intake control driving new product trends
- Graph 37: share of select claims in newly launched sweet snacks2025
- Healthful snacks: focus on the potential of dairy ingredients
- Better-for-you snacks can boost premiums and consumption frequency
- Graph 38: snack consumption attitudes, by consumer group, 2025
- Snacks with health functions: niche but growing
- Graph 39: share of functional claims in new snack launches, 2020-24
- Traditional Chinese wellness ingredients in modern packaging
- Protein-rich ingredients and health: further awareness and application required
- Graph 40: better-for-you snack ingredients, 2025
- Graph 41: better-for-you snack attributes, 2025
- Add dairy ingredients for both nutrition and taste
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Appendix – market size and forecast, research methodology and abbreviations
- Market size and forecast
- Segment sizes
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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