Food Bars Booming

Beyond traditional granola bars, food bars have created niche opportunities in many market categories spanning breakfast, meal replacement and snack bars. According to a new Packaged Facts report, “Food Bars in the U.S.,” the $5.7 billion U.S. retail market for food bars can be split into two broad categories: cereal/granola bars and energy/nutrition bars. Food bars have been making noise in the marketplace recently, posting double-digit growth rates for successful product types. Reasons for this surge include a wave of new product launches, increased sophistication in marketing bars to different consumer sets, and continued innovation in delivery formats. Eating trends such as the blurring of meals and snacks and increasingly informal, spur-of-the-moment, and customized eating all favor the food bar market.