The market has grown by 1.5% as 560k new shoppers enter the category to reach 61% penetration.

Most of this is down to fruit and granola bars, which were up by 9.3% thanks to positive perceptions around health benefits and taste, as well as new product launches. NPD in the market has increased by 25% on the previous year and most of these launches include fruit and granola. 

This popularity of fruit and granola is also partly responsible for the dip in sales of breakfast bars, as shoppers switch. 

The ‘balanced health’ segment, which includes brands such as Special K, has remained flat. Special K is relaunching its range of protein bars with added fruit and nuts to appeal to the fruit and granola shopper. This reflects NPD by smaller brands in the market, which have generally been quicker to take advantage of this growing segment. 

Branded share has declined over the past three years; however, the rate of loss has reduced in the last year to only a -0.3pp drop. This is due to own-label growth over the last three years dropping from +11.3% to +3.6%. In the same period, brands have improved from flat to 1.2% growth helped by the rise of NPD.Brands vs own label

BelVita is comfortably the biggest snack in the sector with value sales of nearly £80m. Second-ranked Nature Valley has sales of £44m. 

However, BelVita sales are slightly down on last year, falling 0.1% in value and 1.4% in volume. That's due to a fall in the popularity of breakfast biscuits as consumers opt instead for smoothies, porridge pots or granola.

As for Nature Valley, it delivered strong NPD in the shape of its Nut Butter Biscuits duo - an on-the-go option "with a filling made with real nut butter" - and saw stellar growth in its protein bar range. The brand saw double-digit rises in value and volume as a result. 

Number three brand McVitie's Go Ahead suffered a decline as consumers turned away from calorie-focused snacks towards those perceived as more nutritious, such as Eat Natural.

The biggest hit in snack bars was taken by Kellogg's, which saw £2m wiped off Squares, £3m off its Nutri-Grain bars and £6m wiped off the value of Special K bars. It's fighting back with larger size bars, trendier ingredients and revamped packaging. And it has launched a Nuts & More cereal bar containing 41% nuts, 5.4g protein and 3g of fibre - "wholesome with ingredients shoppers recognise"