At the SIAL Paris food exhibition held last month, industry leaders showcased a shift toward health-conscious snacking, highlighting a global transition away from traditional three-meal dining structures.
Innovation in Healthy Snacking
Among the 2,800 products submitted for innovation awards, the most notable entries focused on health-oriented formulations. Zeen Tech, a Swiss food-tech company, received a gold medal for potato chips fried using superheated steam rather than oil. According to the company’s CEO, Josef Zehnder, the process uses steam at temperatures exceeding 100°C to expand the potato before extracting moisture in a vacuum, resulting in a crunch without the use of oil.
Other recognized products included Turkey’s Patis Food Group, which earned a silver medal for its "Three Biotics Yogurt Bites." These snacks utilize specialized freeze-drying and coating technology to allow for shelf-stable consumption of probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics without the need for refrigeration.
A French firm also received a bronze medal for Nespresso-compatible matcha latte capsules, designed to simplify the preparation of a drink that traditionally requires manual whisking and milk heating.
The Rise of the Reduced-Meal Society
The shift toward snack-based eating is gaining momentum as traditional meal times become less rigid. Data from the AI research firm OpenSurvey indicates that in the year ending June 2025, the average annual meal frequency for South Koreans decreased by 24.8 instances compared to the preceding two-year period.
This trend is also reflected in the United States, where the International Food Information Council (IFIC) found that 62% of adults now prefer snacks or small meals over traditional dining. This represents a 24-percentage-point increase from 38% in 2020.
Shifts in Consumer Spending
Despite the decrease in formal meal frequency, demand for convenient protein sources has grown. According to the Rural Development Administration, compared with the 2022–2024 average, last year’s real purchase volumes for tofu and soy milk rose by 8.2% and 9.1%, respectively, while fresh egg consumption increased by 10.0%.
Jean-Gabriel Mollard, the SIAL Paris general director, attributed these changes to the rise of remote and flexible work environments, the increase in single-person households, and the global adoption of GLP-1 weight-loss medications.
Questions Regarding Future Dining Trends
- What is the primary factor driving the "reduced-meal society"? The trend is largely attributed to changing work patterns, such as remote and flexible schedules, alongside the growth of single-person households and the influence of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs on appetite.
- How does the current focus of the SIAL exhibition differ from previous years? While the 2022 event emphasized sustainability and alternative proteins in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2024 exhibition prioritized taste and texture as essential components of healthy snack development.
- Is the decline in meal frequency a global or regional phenomenon? Data from both the OpenSurvey (South Korea) and the International Food Information Council (United States) suggest that the shift toward snack-based dining is a widespread trend occurring across different international markets.
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