Key takeaways:
- Consumers increasingly discover food through social media, where visual appeal, shareability and cultural relevance can drive demand as powerfully as flavour.
- Texture is emerging as a major innovation opportunity, with consumers placing growing value on crunch, contrast and sensory experiences that translate well both on screen and in real life.
- Modern consumers are becoming less willing to make traditional trade-offs, expecting products to deliver indulgence, comfort, novelty, wellness and emotional connection simultaneously.
Dubai Chocolate didn’t become a global phenomenon because consumers suddenly developed a passion for pistachio.
The chocolate bar’s meteoric rise helps explain why some products become cultural sensations while others disappear without trace. Consumers queued for it, filmed it, shared it and hunted it down across multiple markets. The dramatic crack of the chocolate shell, the contrast between crunchy and creamy textures and the visual reveal of the filling turned a confectionery product into a social-media event.
While the combination of nutty pistachio and creamy chocolate proved popular, the trend’s extraordinary success had as much to do with texture, theatre and shareability as taste.
That dynamic sits at the heart of Mondelēz International’s latest State of Snacking report, developed with Mintel and Black Swan Data. Published annually and widely cited by manufacturers, retailers, analysts and industry observers, the report has become an important barometer of changing consumer attitudes towards snacking. This year’s findings suggest manufacturers may need to rethink how consumers evaluate products.
Flavour still carries weight, but it’s no longer the only factor shaping purchasing decisions. Consumers increasingly discover products through visual cues, engage with them through texture and often choose them for reasons that have as much to do with comfort, reward, nostalgia and connection as taste alone.
The report may focus on snacking, but the themes running through the research extend well beyond biscuits, chocolate and crisps. Bakery, dairy, beverages and traditional meal categories are all grappling with the same reality: consumers are becoming harder to define and considerably less willing to settle for simple trade-offs.
Why snacks have become social currency
Food is becoming part of how consumers connect, entertain and express themselves.
Mondelēz’s research captures a consumer who increasingly uses food as a way to participate in wider conversations. More than two-thirds of consumers globally say snacks are necessary when spending time with family and friends. In Thailand, 86% of adults believe snacking enhances social occasions. In India, 79% say trying new snacks with friends is enjoyable because of the reactions it generates. French consumers are significantly more likely to eat savoury snacks in company than alone.
The trend is equally visible in the UK, where nearly seven in 10 adults hosted an at-home gathering during 2025, with savoury snacks appearing at 60% of those occasions and sweet snacks at 57%. Hosting has become another important snacking occasion, particularly among younger consumers who increasingly turn to social media for inspiration.
The impulse to share food experiences isn’t new, but what once happened between friends, family members and colleagues now unfolds in front of millions of consumers. Social platforms have accelerated the speed at which products move from niche curiosity to mainstream obsession. A seasonal chocolate bar, a limited edition biscuit or a local bakery launch can generate international attention within days, often long before many consumers encounter the product in store.
According to findings, almost one-third of snack consumers in Brazil actively try products they discover online. In China, 46% of adults follow or share novel seasonal bakery products on social media. Among Gen Z hosts in the UK, 77% use social platforms as inspiration when deciding what to serve guests.
Consumers often encounter products on screens before they encounter them on shelves. The visual experience comes first, whether that’s a pastry being pulled apart, a biscuit reveal or a confectionery trend racing across TikTok.
Dubai chocolate illustrates the point. In Germany, 52% of chocolate consumers aged 25 to 34 say the trend increased their interest in confectionery inspired by global cuisines. But pistachio and kataifi pastry alone don’t explain that response. The product arrived at the intersection of several consumer trends at once, combining indulgence, novelty, texture, visual drama and a globally inspired flavour profile in a format that felt both familiar and new. Few recent launches have brought together so many consumer motivations simultaneously.
Brand owners have always relied on word-of-mouth. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have dramatically expanded both the speed and scale of those conversations, allowing niche products to reach global audiences in a matter of days.
Why texture may be the next great innovation platform
Flavour dominates most conversations about food innovation, yet texture appears throughout Mondelēz’s research with surprising consistency.
Consumers across multiple markets are paying closer attention to how food feels. In Germany, 67% of snack consumers are attracted to products combining multiple textures. In Thailand, 70% say crunch and crackle contribute to enjoyment. Many teens in India actively favour products that pair crunchy exteriors with softer centres. Meanwhile, 77% of UK adults say they make a conscious effort to savour eating and drinking experiences.
Texture has always mattered but today’s consumers are paying closer attention to it. Part of the explanation lies in how food is now experienced. Consumers can watch a pastry tear apart; a chocolate shell crack; or a layered dessert reveal its filling before deciding whether a product is worth buying. The first sensory interaction increasingly takes place on a screen rather than in a store.
Products that photograph well have enjoyed an advantage for years. Products that sound satisfying may now be gaining one, too.
Black Swan Data’s analysis of online conversations reinforces the point. Taste remains central, but discussions around aesthetics, fun and sensory experiences play a major role in driving engagement. Bakery manufacturers are particularly well positioned to benefit. Croissant hybrids, stuffed cookies, laminated pastries and highly layered desserts all rely heavily on texture contrast.
Manufacturers have spent years asking which flavour comes next. However, today’s consumers may increasingly be asking a different question: how does it feel?
Why consumers are rejecting traditional trade-offs
The most valuable insight in Mondelēz’s latest research may be the extent to which consumers expect products to satisfy several needs at once.
Food marketing has traditionally been built around choices: indulgence or health; familiarity or novelty; comfort or excitement.
Many consumers are no longer appear willing to make those distinctions.
Comfort remains one of the strongest emotional drivers of snacking. Across every generation studied in the US, consumers identify comfort as the leading descriptor of their relationship with snacks. In India, 73% of adults say snacking helps relieve daily stress. In Thailand, 83% associate snacking with comfort.
Snacks increasingly serve emotional needs that extend well beyond hunger. Consumers use them as rewards, stress relievers, sources of comfort and even ways to connect with others. UK consumers regularly turn to chocolate to relax, unwind or reward themselves, while nostalgia continues to influence purchasing decisions across multiple markets.
Novelty remains equally powerful. In India, 78% of adults say snacking allows them to explore different cultures and cuisines. Social media continues exposing consumers to products, ingredients and flavour combinations they may never previously have encountered.
Nostalgia retains enormous appeal. More than half of US salty snack consumers prefer nostalgic branding and packaging, while many European consumers remain remarkably loyal to the crisp brands that dominated their childhoods.
Consumers don’t appear willing to choose between indulgence and wellness. Around four in 10 snackers actively look for healthier options at least some of the time, yet interest in comfort, reward and emotional satisfaction remains remarkably strong. The same consumer reaching for a protein-enriched snack during the day may still turn to chocolate in the evening as a way to relax or unwind.
That creates a challenge for manufacturers accustomed to building products around a single proposition. Consumers who value health and wellbeing continue to embrace indulgent treats, while those drawn to nostalgic brands remain open to globally inspired flavours and new product concepts. Traditional category boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred.
Mondelēz’s latest research suggests the food industry may be searching for trends in the wrong places. The next big opportunity is unlikely to be a single flavour, ingredient or format. Consumers are becoming more nuanced than that.
A product’s success increasingly depends on how effectively it combines multiple consumer needs. Visual appeal drives discovery; texture shapes the eating experience; and emotional factors ranging from comfort and nostalgia to reward and connection influence purchasing decisions long after the first bite.
The report may focus on snacking, but the lesson extends across food and beverage. Consumers increasingly eat with their eyes, ears and emotions, creating new opportunities for brands that understand how those influences work together rather than in isolation.