While watching a movie or a cricket match, ready-to-eat popcorn has been the favorite snacking option. It has become an interesting snack for on-the-go consumption, get together, and a snack for all time cravings. There is a change in the preference of the consumers towards ready-to-eat popcorn over microwave and kernel popcorn as it provides more better-for-you ingredients.
The global ready-to-eat popcorn market is growing at a speedy rate owing to the factors such as growing demand for ready-to-eat snacks due to busy lifestyles, increase in consumption of ready-to-eat popcorn in movie theaters to improve the movie-time experience and growing spending of the consumer. Further, the consumers are seeking for a healthy snack as there is an increase in focus towards a healthy lifestyle. Ready-to-eat popcorn offers several health benefits such as they are rich in antioxidants, helps in metabolism & provides energy, improves digestive health, lowers cholesterol levels, and many more. Thus, the convenience and useful health benefits are supporting the growth of the global market. Moreover, an increase in ready-to-eat popcorn from millennials, the rapidly expanding retail sector, and easy availability of the product on online distribution channels are also spurring the growth of the market. Furthermore, the launch of innovative flavors by the key manufacturers may serve as better opportunities for the growth of the global market over the forecast period.
The global ready-to-eat popcorn market is categorized based on product, end-user, and region. The product segment is classified into savory ready-to-eat popcorn, sweet ready-to-eat popcorn, and other ready-to-eat popcorn products. Among these, the savory ready-to-eat popcorn is estimated to lead the market. Based on the end-user, the global market is split into household and commercial. Among these, the household segment is predicted to account for the largest share during the forecast period.
North America is anticipated to hold the maximum share in the global ready-to-eat popcorn market during the forecast period. Growing consumption of ready-to-eat popcorn owing to its convenience is the prime factor that is fostering the growth of the market in this region. In addition to this, the availability of numerous flavors is attracting a large number of consumers which in turn is also propelling the growth of the market in North America. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR value due to its growing demand in movie theaters and its health benefits.
The key players that are operating in the global ready-to-eat popcorn market are PepsiCo, Intersnack Group GmbH & Co. KG., Snyder’s-Lance, Inc., Conagra Brands, Inc., The Hershey Company, Weaver Popcorn Company, Inc., The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., Quinn Foods LLC, Propercorn, and Eagle Family Foods Group LLC, among others.
Key developments: In October 2019, PepsiCo launched Smart50, a ready-to-eat popcorn snack that offers the consumer a complete flavor snack for 50 or fewer calories.