Snack bars market continues to surge

More proof that North Americans love their between-meal eats.

The snack bar market is seeing unprecedented growth in the U.S., according to a Rabobank Group study cited in a Candy and Snack Today article. Better yet, the category appears to be completely immune to economic slowdown.

The market has grown at twice the rate of any other snack food, Rabobank writes, and almost three times the rate of the overall packaged food sector over the past 10 years.

Furthermore, while other categories were battered by the recession, snack bars' average growth rate was 6.4 per cent year-over-year.

Among the category leaders are Clif Bar & Co., General Mills and Kellogg. More generally, energy and nutrition bars led the market.

Rabobank’s report concludes that, while the category has seen a lot of expansion, it still has growth potential.