Snack foods slide, but chips still on top

Danielle Bowling
12 June, 2013
Foodmag

While there has been a drop in the number of Australians buying snack foods in recent years, the humble potato chip still reigns supreme in the popularity stakes.

According to a recent study by Roy Morgan research, one-third of Australians aged 14 years and over bought potato chips over an average four week period in the year to March 2013. This is down from 36 percent in the year to March 2009.

Coming in at second was sweet plain biscuits (22 percent, down from 28 percent) and in third was nuts (22 percent, down from 24 percent).

Unsurprisingly, those living with children under the age of 16 were more likely than those without children to have purchased all the top six most popular snack foods, except for nuts (20 percent of those with kids versus 22 percent without).

It’s a similar story across the Tasman, with the potato chip also the most popular snack in New Zealand, with 44 percent of Kiwis buying them in an average four week period (unchanged from 2009).

Chocolate-coated and plain sweet biscuits were tied as the second most popular snack food (30 percent, both down from 32 percent in the year to January 2009).

The research also found that New Zealand citizens – regardless of whether or not they have children – are more likely to buy the top six snack foods than their Australian counterparts.

Top six snack foods bought by Australians