60% of consumers would rather give up social media than chocolate – study

Lester Kiewit speaks to Arpan Sur, Senior Director of Marketing for Mondelez in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Listen below.

South Africans are snacking more to keep them going 'in tough times and hard days', says Sur, commenting on Mondelēz International's annual State of Snacking™ report.

The report is a global consumer trend study into how consumers make snacking decisions. The fifth annual report reveals global consumers are still snacking strongly.

The past half-decade of tracking attitudes and behaviours among thousands of consumers across 12 countries has shown a consistent trendline of consumers demonstrating a preference for snacks over meals.

The global state of snacking reveals:

• 78% of consumers say 'while food prices are hurting their pockets, they are still able to put something aside for snacks'
• 72% of consumers say they would pay extra to bring back their favourite childhood snack brands
• 60% of consumers would rather give up social media than give up chocolate
• 75% of consumers from the report say they consume snacks during a special moment or time of the day

The top snacks bringing South Africans joy are:

• Chocolates
• Chips
• Biscuits
• Sweets
• Yoghurt
• Fruits

Sur says there is a correlation between snacking and long days.

"When you have long days in the office or long days spent commuting, lots of people report having a snack between these long days to perk them up," says Sur. 

Sur also adds that snacking is 'important for mental well-being'.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.