Almost 6 in 10 (55%) adults claim to snack in the evening after dinner, which has risen significantly from 2016 levels, where just 43% of 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 1,011 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 driving this increase in evening snacking, females (57%) are more likely than males (53%) to snack at this time, with increases in both genders evident to the same degree from 2016 levels. Those aged 45-54 are most likely to snack at this time, with just over 6 in 10 (61%) claiming to do so, while those aged 18-24 (33%) least likely to snack at this time. This group are significantly more likely to snack throughout the day (35%).
Snacking in the evening is dominated by sweet options and generally appears to be a time for indulgence or treating, with almost half (46%) of those who snack at this time of the day, consuming chocolate. There are 4 in 10 (40%) who snack on biscuits in the evening.
However, the incidence of consuming both chocolate and biscuits is in line with the incidence of recorded in our 2016 research. There are almost 4 in 10 (37%) who consume crisps at this time of the day, with fruit being consumed by 1 in 5 (20%) and just over 1 in 7 (16%) consuming jellies/sweets.
All three of these key snack types (chocolate, biscuits and crisps) are significantly more likely to be consumed by those aged under 34.
For further information and more in-depth analysis on consumer behaviour when it comes evening snacking and other snacking behaviour, please contact Robbie Clarke at Empathy Research.
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