30 of the biggest snack trends in the UK

Snacks are ‘in’. When they’re not focusing on their gut health, protein intake or macros, the modern speciality shopper loves to indulge. Permissible treating or ‘little treat’ culture means consumers are spending more on little moments of edible joy, rather than heading out for dinner, or booking lots of weekends away. With the trend driven by economic uncertainty, and the threat of tax rises and more pressure on households this autumn, we don’t see snack sales diminishing any time soon.

Read on to discover what they want to put in their baskets.

Baked Goods

When they’re not reaching for a chocolate bar, cereal snack or packet of crisps, baked goodies are go-tos for British consumers wanting to treat themselves. The beauty of these products (from traybakes and cake slices, to sweet or savoury biscuits) is their flexibility. There’s a baked indulgence for every time of day. Granola slices, cheese scones and teacakes are popular morning pick-me-ups. Cakes and biscuits can be eaten alone with a warm drink, packed in picnics and hampers, or sold as perfect additions to afternoon tea. 

And savoury biscuits can be enjoyed anytime, as an alternative to crisps, or even tucked onto a grazing platter alongside cheeses, cured meats and dips.

The main thing you need to know, as an indie, is that when it comes to bakes, visitors to farm shops and delis are expecting so much more than they’ll find at their local supermarket. Across categories, they’re looking for products made with the same ingredients they might use in their own kitchens. And in biscuits especially, they’re drawn to elegant packaging – for gifting, or for showing off to guests as they reach for the kettle.

1. Artisan cakes with a retro vibe

Brownies and flapjacks will always be mainstay in retail and foodservice, but if you really want to capture shoppers’ attention, you’ve got to go kitsch this year. The ‘traditional’ trend is everywhere, with consumers enthralled by the prospect of fresh cream Victoria sponges, cherry-topped Black Forest cakes, and anything covered in sprinkles! We’re loving Cakesmiths’ Banana Split cake with banana-infused clotted cream frosting, homemade cherry jam, milk chocolate, toasted hazelnuts, sprinkles and a cherry on top!

2. Indulgent biscuits

Dunking a biscuit into a steaming hot cup of tea or coffee is part and parcel of the British way of life – a ritual enjoyed mid-afternoon, after work, and as we park our luggage by the front door after a holiday. Artisan biscuits are on the up, as consumers invest more of their money in ‘little treats’ and indulgences. They’re looking for natural products – those filled with real butter and flavours – and for biscuits that look, feel and taste homemade.

Top picks include New Forest Shortbread’s Raspberry Shortbread, The Fine Cookie Co’s Salt Lake Caramel Cookies, and Hassetts’ Chocolate Jellystar – a shortbread covered in milk chocolate and topped with a handmade raspberry jelly.

3. Savoury Biscuits

Whether eaten alone as a snack, or used as a vehicle for cheese, dips or pâtés, no kitchen cupboard is complete without savoury biscuits. From plain, wholesome oatcakes, to crumbly all-butter shortbreads infused with herbs, and even savoury crisp waffles, there’s lots of excitement about this category, with some brilliant products to discover and share with your customers. They include Pea Green Boat’s Cheese Sablés with Nigella Seed and Chive, Popti’s Cornish Seaweed Tins, and the Cheshire Cheese Company’s Ale and Mustard Biscuits for Cheese.

4. Gluten-free bakes

According to Allergy UK, around 44% of British adults suffer from at least one allergy, while it’s predicted one in 100 are coeliacs. Being inclusive, offering a selection of treats across categories for those with allergies and intolerances, is a good move agree brands and retailers. Those enticed into your store for that packet of gluten-free biscuits, or dairy-free ice cream, will often spend more on other products that catch their eye while they’re with you. This kind of shopper is looking for quality, and minimal processing. They’re ‘over’ free-from treats stuffed with unnecessary ingredients.

We like the Sweet F.A. brand from Island Bakery. All the biscuits are 100% free from gluten and suitable for vegans. The Peanut Butter Cookies are especially good. Also worth considering are Olina’s Bakehouse’s Gluten-Free Seeded Toasts.

5. Baked Cheese

Anyone working in an independent store will tell you cheese is one of the biggest draws for customers. But shoppers are looking outside of the traditional counter options when it comes to satisfying their snacking cravings too. Much as crackling and on-the-go salamis have grown in popularity, so has there been increased interest in baked cheese products. Not only do they deliver a serious ‘pow’ of flavour, but they’re high in protein and contain very few (often just one) ingredients, fitting in with the modern shopper’s move away from UPFs.

Try Serious Pig’s Snacking Cheese with Truffle, Lava Cheese’s Bacon variety, and Cheesies’ Gouda Cheesies

Future Flavours

The skill of independent retailers is being able to balance enduring customer favourites, with ongoing bursts of ‘newness’.

Keeping those shelves and displays fresh, and offering short runs and limited edition products shoppers can’t get anywhere else locally is your superpower.

It’s always, then, worth keeping up with the very latest trends and food fashions, which really can change on a dime.

Speciality Food is in the unique position of having access to insider expertise throughout the year, which we love to share with our readers. The snacking arena is no exception. There are five flavours we’ve been seeing over and over again at events in 2025 – swicy, pistachio, matcha, honey and miso. And there’s a reason brands are jumping on these profiles ... consumers really really love them. An thread joining most of them is that irresistible combination of sweet and savoury – a jolt to the senses. Whether miso and caramel, honey and chilli, or pistachio and sea salt, multi-dimensional flavours are where it’s at. As ever, sampling is so important to ensure whatever you choose to impress your fan base offers the multi-faceted taste they’ve come to love.

6. Swicy

Meaty and classic (think salted and cheese and onion) flavours are reigning in snacks, but anything sweet and spicy is giving these traditional combinations are a run for their money. Consumer desire for everything ‘swicy’ is influenced, experts say, by the ongoing globalisation of food culture, driven by social media. Shoppers are buying more authentic world ingredients to cook with at home, and want to see them echoed in their favourite nibbles. Hot honey, sriracha and Thai sweet chilli all meet the brief brilliantly.

Food examples include Boundless’s Chipotle & Lime Chips, Love Popcorn’s Fiery Salsa flavour, The Curators’ Thai Sweet Chilli Protein Chips, and Simply Roasted’s Hot Honey flavour.

7. Pistachio

The Dubai chocolate bar craze has led to a new appreciation for pistachios – which have long been considered one of the most luxurious nuts in the worl. Anything containing pistachio or pistachio and chocolate is catching consumers’ eye. We like Rita Farhi’s Dark Chocolate Coated Pistachio Nuts, and Teoni’s Gluten-Free White Chocolate & Pistachio Biscuits.

8. Matcha

The UK matcha market was worth £61.8 million in 2024, with an expectation it will grow up to a third more by 2030. The vivid green powder, revered for its reported health benefits (such as boosting energy naturally) is increasingly being found outside of its traditional use, frothed into lattes and teas. Matcha’s gorgeous green hue is just as likely to appear in chocolate, cakes and biscuits. Shoppers can’t get enough of it.

Nourish have a tasty Organic Matcha Coconut Cookie that could turn customers’ heads at the counter, and Ombar are experiencing success with their Oat M!lk Matcha Latte chocolate bar.

9. Honey

As consumers put greater value in natural products and ingredients, so they are turning to honey as a flavouring, and honey is making big waves at the moment across both food and drink. Snacks which can trace their honey to British hives are particularly appealing.

Look out for honey roasted nuts such as Anthap’s Honey Roasted Almond & Cinnamon, and honey-infused treats like Hokey Pokey’s Milk Chocolate Honeycomb, which infuses real honey into every bite.

10. Miso

This Asian essential is THE trendiest way to inject a hint of salinity into both sweet and

savoury snacks at the moment (other than fancy flaked sea salt). Miso caramel, especially has hit the mainstream, flavouring ice creams, sauces, buttercreams, biscuits, chocolate and more. With consumers enamoured by Asian ingredients, this is a flavour profile to watch.

Cox & Co’s Miso & Caramel bar, made with 47% single origin Colombian cacao, and sold in individual and sharing bars, in compostable packaging, is bang on trend.

Nibbles

Us Brits know how to snack. Behind the USA and China, we are the most prolific munchers in the world, perhaps driven by our busy lives, which often allow little time to sit back and actually enjoy a full meal.

Driving the snacking train are crisps, which account for around three quarters of the market share in the UK. We’ll eat them in any format – shatteringly thin and flaky, chunky and dunkable, or airy and puffed.

The snacking category today, though, has so much more to offer beyond the humble spud (which will always lead from the front). A plethora of alternatives have immersed, meeting the challenges posed by HFSS regulations, being made with less salt, fat and sugar, and with a world of weird and wonderful grains and ingredients.

Then there are flavoured nuts and seeds, which are seeing sales climb as consumers latch onto their nutritional credentials.

In fine food retail it’s essential, of course, to carry products the average shopper knows and expects – cheese and onion crisps, pork scratchings and salted peanuts – but the absolute joy of setting food in an indie is the wonder of not knowing what you’ll find around the corner. Shoppers have come to expect the unexpected, and it’s your job to be a culinary treasure hunter, seeking out products that will surprise and delight them.

As you can see, there’s a lot to be found, particularly in savoury nibbles.

11. Crisps

We eat around 6 billion packets of crisps in the UK – that’s a lot of potatoes! In independent retail, consumers expect to see something more elevated, and there’s certainly plenty of scope to make your selection very attractive indeed. Take your pick from extra thick cut varieties, spuds sliced and cooked in extra virgin olive oil (growing in popularity), and an expanse of natural, artisan flavours, from white truffle and lobster, to smoked pheasant and wild mushroom.

Wine and crisp pairings are being held in bars, shops and at home up and down Britain, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to upsell with a bit of clever merchandising.

Big hits this year range from Burts’ Herb Roasted Chicken flavour, to Fairfields Farm’s new launch, Honey Roasted Chestnut & Sage, and Two Farmers’ classic Hereford Hop Cheese & Onion.

12. Alternative Crunch

Snackers on the hunt for something beyond crisps now have access to more options than ever before as brands innovate to meet HFSS criteria. Whether they’re seeking packets of crunchy insects (yes, really), dried chickpeas and beans, popped lotus seeds or lentil chips, there’s something that will take most shoppers’ desires. It’s important to support these innovations to show you’re moving with the times, but make sure you try samples first – some brands are relying on gimmick rather than flavour.

Try The Honest Bean Co’s Roasted Fava Beans (Seaweed & Miso feeds into the current foodie zeitgeist), Eat Real’s Crumbly Greek Cheese, Tomato & Herb Lentil Chips, and Proppadoms’ Sriracha flavoured poppadom snacks.

13. Snacking Seeds

Seeds are nutritional powerhouses, which has put them up on a snacking pedestal. Both sweet and savoury seed snacks are available, tossed in chocolate, married with dried fruit, formed into clusters, or smothered in savoury coatings. Health-savvy consumers can’t get enough of them. Munchy Seeds are one of the original seed snacking brands, and their Mini Munch Toasted Tamari packs are great for on-the-go consumers.

14. Tortilla Chips

Mexican food and drink have captured the hearts (and taste buds) of British consumers in recent years. Having invested in authentic spice blends, hot sauces and craft tequilas, they’re now turning their attention to snacks. And that means it’s tortilla time. Grand View Research predicts the global market size will grow at a CAGR of 8.8% between 2024 and 2030, driven by natural chips, made with heritage Mexican corn. Be sure to signpost to ambient and fresh dips near your tortilla collection! 

Blanco Niño are certainly having their day in this category, and their Creamy Jalapeno flavour is seriously on point.

15. Pork Scratchings

The scrunchy texture of pork scratchings has made them a bar favourite for generations, but more recently they’ve been moving into the snacking mainstream thanks to their high protein credentials and minimal ingredient lists. Consumers are looking for brands that deliver on both flavour and ethical/wellbeing credentials, made ideally with British pork rind. Double and triple cooked varieties are favoured for their airy, puffy texture. 

The Pork Crunch from Mr Trotter’s is well worth seeking out, boasting 18g of protein per bag, and Oink tap into the BBQ trend with their Artisan Smoky BBQ Pork Crackling.

16. Nuts

Filled with protein and other beneficial nutrients, nuts are certainly making a stir in the snacking world. Consumers are investing in plain, unroasted varieties to flavour at home, but also for unique, natural combinations to nibble on alongside tapas plates, or a bottle of wine on a sunny evening. 

Look out for Better With’s Honey & Sea Salt, regeneratively grown Portuguese almonds, and Olives Et Al’s Sweet Paprika Marcona Almonds

Grazing and Tapas

What started as a social media trend now has a real foothold in the UK – it’s official, tapas and grazing culture is here to stay.

The undeniable initial appeal of this type of eating is its visual impact. Influencers have spent the last few years trying to outdo one another when it comes to presentation, with salami roses, intricately carved fruit and vegetable garnishes, and artful displays that really make people stop in their tracks popping up on social feeds by the thousand.

Canny retailers have tapped into the trend by offering their own pre-prepared grazing platters either in the deli counter or as a pre-order option. This isn’t, of course, for everyone, but what we do recommend is taking stock of your offering this year, and seeing how adding a few extra snacks and accompaniments could elevate your business, positioning it as a go-to spot for the wherewithal to create Insta-worthy charcuterie boards.

Offering a high-quality selection of cheeses, cured meats and crackers is a great framework. But build on this. With interesting breadsticks and bruschetta. With homemade dips and maybe even pintxos-style skewers in the counter. And with exciting pickles, relishes and ambient products that look and taste great.

Creating a buzz by showcasing your own tapas boards and platters on social media is a great way to show shoppers you’re thinking about their needs, while boosting awareness of what they can buy for their entertaining occasions.

17. Tinned Fish

Snacking on tinned fish with a basket of crusty bread and glass of wine has long been de rigueur on the continent, and now it’s taking off in the UK in a big way. Bars and restaurants have picked up on the trend as a simple but effective addition to the ‘nibbles’ section of their menus, and consumers are taking the concept home with them. Look out for sustainable and British brands. And insiders say smoked or chilli-marinated or infused seafood are really hot right now.

We love Sea Sisters’ Rainbow Trout Smoked Over Oak, Fish4Ever’s Sardine’s in Organic Piri Piri Sauce, and Rockfish’s Tinned British Mackerel Escabeche.

18. Melting Cheese

Brits have become obsessed with melting and cooking cheeses – and the craze is going beyond autumn and winter, as they invest throughout the year in the wherewithal for tartiflette or Raclette.

In response, a number of brands have launched ‘hot cheese’ products to enjoy whatever the season. Hook onto the seasons when you sample in store. With asparagus spears in spring, Jersey Royal and early potatoes in summer, and alongside charcuterie and bread in the cooler months. There’s so much to experience now in this category, including Snowdonia Cheese Co’s luxurious Rock Star Cheese & Wine Bake, and Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses’ Baking Button Mill.

19. Pickles & Olives

No tapas or grazing platter is complete without the sharp tang of a pickle. The briny acidity cleanses the palate, preparing you for your next bite of cheese or salami. Olives (both stone-in and pitted) are must haves. Always stock both green and black varieties, and sample out stuffed and marinated varieties to find out what your demographic likes best. Bread and butter pickles and cornichons should be on your shelves too. And look out for the growing new wave of pickled products to tantalise shoppers’ tastebuds. 

GingerBeard’s Preserves’ Cider & Chilli Pickled Eggs are flavoursome (and full of protein), SuckerPunch have dropped a new format into the pickles category with their ridge cut on-the-go pickle chips, and Toreras are making waves with their Picanta Banderillas – a vegetarian alternative to Spanish gildas, skewering together gherkins, baby onions, peppers and olives.

20. Charcuterie

Salamis and muscle cut charcuterie are the bread and butter of any good deli counter, and will always feature on grazing and charcuterie platters. But consumers are looking beyond the traditional now too. Snacking salamis and ‘beer sticks’ are growing in popularity, and shoppers are trying both British and continental pates and rillettes in a bid to bring greater interest to their entertaining boards.

Try Ispini’s Wee Nibbles Chorizo Stix, made in Northern Ireland using craft cider from County Armagh, and Cornish Charcuterie’s Chicken Rillette with Lemon Oil and Cracked Black Pepper.

21. Dips

Dips are big business in the UK. They’re the ‘glue’ that brings together picnics, grazing and tapas moments. As a minimum, make sure you stock a really good hummus, a cream cheese-based dip, and something fresh and zippy like tzatziki. There’s a lot of innovation going on in this category to keep your eye on, including dips packaged with crackers, oat cakes and breadsticks, ready for customers to enjoy on the go.

We’ve enjoyed the Organic Artichoke Bruschetta Spread from Bio Orto, Dipp’s Red Pepper & Aubergine Dip, and Suma’s Organic Edamame Hummus.

The Sweet Stuff

Sweet snacking has changed quite dramatically in the last two years. While there will always be consumers who want to tuck into a packet of gummies or sour chews on the run (usually younger shoppers), analysts say HFSS regulations have shaken up the multiple categories, encouraging brands to rethink formulations and innovate with products lower in sugar and fat. And shoppers are enjoying them. Fruit and nut bars, coated dried fruit, oat and cereal snacks are all seeing growth.

Alongside these, consumers are reaching for comfort and tradition, for ethical and sustainable brands, and for products free from the top 14 allergens. They continue to value individual, treat-sized bars as well, which can be enjoyed in snatched moments of calm, as an antidote to the hectic pace of daily life. Miniature chocolate bars with full traceability, and made with single estate cacao, fit perfectly into what this type of shopper expects.

22. Fruit & Nuts

Chocolate coated and filled fruit and nuts are having their moment in the spotlight. Consumers, looking for snacks that will help them sustain energy naturally, without lots of added sugar, are turning to these products very frequently, and a lot of movement is happening in this space. Refill retailers tell us chocolate-coated nuts and dried fruit, sold by weight, are often their best-sellers. Maybe it’s time to invest in a ‘healthier’ pick and mix?

Forest Feast’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Dates are a must-stock. The Bay Tree has also recently released its Milk Chocolate Brazil Nuts. And customers can’t get enough of Cambrook’s crunchy Salted Caramel Chocolate Hazelnuts.

23. Sharing Packs

Individual treats (such as single portion chocolate bars) are on an upward trajectory, catering to indulgent moments of self-comfort. But we’re also seeing growth in sharing packs of snack-sized chocolates, which fit in with the grazing trend, being used within sweet sharing platters alongside biscuits, creamy dips and miniature cakes.

Booja-Booja have been adding to their line of sharing Chocolate Wonders due to success. And Russell & Atwell bring something different to this space with their chilled, fresh chocolates. We like their Dirty Blond variety.

24. Traditional

Nostalgia, tradition and comfort are high on the agenda for today’s consumer – especially when it comes to snacking and treating themselves. In confectionery, shoppers are being drawn towards products that evoke memories of childhood, from tuck shop sweeties, to fudges, toffees and candies that hark back to seaside holidays.

Natural recipes and heritage-style packaging are very appealing in this category.

Fudge Kitchen branched out beyond fudge this year with their Raspberry Coconut Ice, made with real fruit, Walker’s Nonsuch are essential if you want to hit this trend, Second Street Bakeshop’s Toffee Brittle is super flavoursome, and Cottage Delight has been making its All Butter Fudge for more than 50 years – so they must be doing something right.

25. Luxury Bars

There’s more interest than ever before in sustainable, ethical, bean-to-bar and craft chocolate. And buyers have a dizzying array to choose from. Seek out brands that use as few ingredients as possible to let the natural cacao flavour shine through. And make sure you ask about traceability too – it’s important to artisan chocolate consumers.

A rising star to look out for is East Anglia’s Darkroom Chocolate. Just two ingredients go into their products – single origin cacao, and sugar.

26. Free From Confectionery

The number of people diagnosed with allergies in the UK rises every year, as does the demand for products free from dairy, wheat, soy and sugar. Be sure to stock a range of goodies that cater for those customers who may be diabetic, or who suffer from intolerances. 

Help your customers enjoy a little treat by stocking products like Freedom Confectionery’s Gummies Tots, Choc Affair’s Oat M!lk Chocolate Buttons, and Rhythm 108’s artisan bars.

Wholesome

Wellbeing is a word you’re going to be hearing a lot more of in independent retail in the months and years to come. Once confined to health food stores, pharmacies, and a dusty shelf at the back of the supermarket, products with health claims are being touted as the ‘superstars’ of the contemporary snacking market.

Whether free from added sugar, bolstered with gut-friendly fibre, pre or probiotics, calming with a sprinkling of ashwagandha or magnesium, or energy-boosting thanks to a proliferation of nuts and dried fruit – there’s a whole world of healthier snacks to discover – and it’s a world that keeps on growing.

The most important factor for shoppers in indies is how natural the products they drop into their baskets are, so be sure to do your research, speaking to makers and wholesalers while buying.

If you can find healthier snacks in minimal, recyclable or even compostable packaging, all the better.

27. Fruity Snacks

We’ve noticed a huge increase in the number of fruit-based snack products on the market, responding to consumers looking to fix their cravings with something that won’t give them a sugar high. Freeze-dried fruit crisps, dried fruit gummies, 100% fruit bars, and stuffed dates are all taking centre stage in snacking.

New Forest Fruit Snacks’ Strawberry packets are super crisp and bursting with the flavour of 100% New Forest-grown strawberries. True Dates are adding natural flavours such as Sweet Peach, Sour Watermelon and Cooke Dough to their squidgy dates. And Squished has a new range of ResQ bars - crispy, fruity and coated in yoghurt, they contain 15% rescued fruit and 20% protein.

28. Trail Mix

Trail mix has been a favourite amongst walkers and runners for generations, but it’s hitting the mainstream now, with all ages and types of consumer enjoying the fact that every handful is different.

Tuk In have cornered the market in healthier mixes, adding a variety of nuts and seeds to their packs. The Mango Chutney Bombay Mix, for example, contains 6g of protein per pouch, with spiced corn nuts, mango, peas, cashews, puffed rice and more.

And Infinity Foods have a Hi Energy Trail Mix, made without sugar, salt or oil, and filled with superfoods like pumpkin seeds, cocoa nibs and goji berries.

29. Kid-Friendly Snacks

Parents want to know what’s going into their children’s packed lunch boxes. It’s out with high sugar cereal and chocolate bars, and in with nutritious oat and seed alternatives, and snacks made purely from fruit and vegetables. Flavour comes first for kids, so make sure you sample before committing to new stock.

Soak’d Oats’ bars are free from refined sugar and filled with gut-friendly fibre. And Freddie’s Farm bars are made only with 100% homegrown British fruit, with added carrot, beetroot and spinach.

30. Functional

From added protein, to adaptogenic additions such as ashwagandha, mushrooms or minerals such as magnesium, consumers are more keen than ever to boost their wellbeing when they snack, and are constantly on the hunt for the next tasty treat to indulge in pre or post-gym, on the school run, or during that mid-afternoon slump.

There’s 12g of protein in every pack of Just’s Roasted Wasabi Peas (made with British green peas in cold-pressed rapeseed oil), Veloforte’s Protein Crunch Bars are high in protein and fibre, low in sugar, and have added collagen, and Bardo Bite’s Lift snacks have added botanicals to boost mood, such as clary sage and mandarin.