South Africa loves sports snack bars

Subcategories

There are three subcategories:

• Count lines -these might contain wafer layers with fondant cream or praline, cereal, biscuit, fruit and/or nuts, caramel, butterscotch, cracknel, nougat, peanut butter and/or any combination of any of the above
  
• Health bars - aimed at the fitness, weight conscious and medical sectors of the market. This will include seed bars, sugar free and diet bars containing muesli as main ingredient. These can be dipped or covered in chocolate or other sweet segments.
  
• Sports enhancement bars - energy-enhancing bars concentrate specifically on sports, endurance and fitness enthusiasts.

The channelling for the three categories remained largely unaffected during 2012, as producers and distributors continued to keep hold of their established markets. The general retail sector of health bars saw a push of volume during the base year, whilst general retail and wholesale chains in sports enhancement bars saw a significant push in volumes.

Local channel distribution (excludes exports)

Count line regions saw little movement, as the market itself stayed steady and unmoving. The more affluent metropolitan regions such as Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape saw focus on health bars, as their share of category volumes increased during 2012. All provinces saw substantial growth for the sports enhancement bars sector.

Local regional distribution (excludes exports)

BMi Research specialises in consumer and industrial research in various sectors including the retail market, for more information go to www.bmi.co.za.