Snacking: A Trend to Chew On

When guests drop in for tea or when we’re taking a trip; packing our child’s school tiffin or when we suddenly feel hungry at work – how easily we reach for a packet of wafers, namkeen or murukku. Snacking is certainly on the rise in India as disposable incomes grow and busy lifestyles create a need for readymade convenience. Furthermore, modern automatic packaging machines assure hygiene and freshness while smaller-sized packs provide mobility and affordability, and reduce wastage.

As per an article in The Economic Times, Indian consumers seem to have re-discovered their taste for traditional snacks such as farsan, bhujia and namkeen - going by the impressive growth rate of local firms such as Balaji Wafers, Haldirams and Bikanervala at a time when their multinational rivals are struggling.

There was a time when branded salty snacks were mostly potato chips. However, players now offer new products like extruded snacks besides expanding their traditional snacks offerings, e.g. Murukku, Chakali, Mathri, Gathiya, Samosas, Daal, Farsan Mixtures, etc. which has seen several consumers upgrade from the unbranded market to branded products. Also, given the increasing concerns surrounding ‘unhealthy’ snacking, players have positioned brands and products around ‘health’, e.g. baked, roasted, multigrain, low fat, etc. to reach out to the health-conscious segments.

According to a recently released TechSci Research report, extruded snacks market in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 11% during 2016-2021. Children and young population are the primary buyers of extruded snacks and they are also the target consumer segments for the major players operating in the market.

Major players operating in this market include PepsiCo, Prataap Snacks, ITC, Balaji and Bikanerwala. In 2015, PepsiCo grabbed the lion’s share in the country’s extruded snacks market, and the company is expected to continue its dominance through 2021.

In this scenario of product innovations and easy availability which fuels growing demand, the packaged snack market continues to offer exciting growth prospects for manufacturers. Indian consumers are increasingly inclined to well-packaged snacks which are associated with greater credibility, longer shelf life and better product quality. More snack companies are selling their products across the whole of India, and are even exporting them to countries abroad.

Enter Nichrome, the leading snacks packaging machine manufacturer, who innovated India’s first indigenous counter bagger ‘Snackpack’. Nichrome continuously innovates and adapts technology to cater to the growing and diverse needs of the snacks industry. Nichrome’s Vertical Form Fill Seal (VFFS) Snackpack is a speedy potato chips packing machine solution that also packs extruded snacks and other products with efficiency. Snackpack takes the inherent fragility and odd shapes of snack foods into account while ensuring minimised costs and a highly efficient packaging process

Nichrome’s Snackpack automatic snack packaging machine delivers speeds of up to 150 CSPP packs per minute. The gas-filled pouches provide protection for brittle products such as potato chips, while the vertical concept of the packaging solution helps to speed up the process.

Snackpack is an ideal snack packing machine designed for quick and easy tool-less changeover of size parts resulting in minimum product falling height. Its perforation system makes it possible to produce a chain of pouches, and its unique stripping action before cross sealing avoids product entrapping in seal.

Apart from offering versatility and efficiency, Nichrome’s Snackpack machines have also been designed to ease operational and maintenance challenges. Operations are simplified and to facilitate maintenance, they are also equipped with servo-technology that helps to reduce and eliminate technical errors.

Besides snacks, Nichrome’s Snackpack is also suited for dry fruit pouch packaging, biscuit packaging and for retail packaging of other products like Wrapped Candies, Macaroni, Biscuits, Pasta, Seeds, Breakfast Cereals, etc. Nichrome assures the latest packaging solutions that protect the product quality and endure the toughest stages of the distribution chain, including shipments and other handling options.