Healthy snacking products such as nuts, popcorn, baked and vegetable crisps/chips, and individually portioned fruit are helping to boost ‘on the go’ product sales across Europe, according to a new study of six major European countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands) by IRI.

Overall, the ambient food category was worth EUR96bn across these countries last year and grew by +1.4% on average. Germany and the Netherlands showed the biggest growth, with ambient sales up +2.3% year on year in both markets.

Health and well-being is increasingly important for shoppers, influencing consumer choice when it comes to categories such as snacking. Double-digit growth of vegetable chips, for example, “is being fueled by new product development, including root vegetable, pea, rice and lentil variants, from niche and mainstream brands”, IRI said. Demand for healthier products also extends to the beverage category, with bottled mineral water volume now growing faster than of colas across all countries.