It really does seem like AI is affecting every aspect of our lives in some way or another, and now apparently, AI is affecting our snacking choices as well. People are asking AI where to find healthier snacks. If you’ve seen me, it’s obvious that I am not one of the people that is doing the asking. The last time I looked for a healthier snack choice was… Well, honestly, I don’t remember.
According to seattletimes.com,
‘An analysis of more than 53 million shopping transactions across 17,000 snack products found that Americans are increasingly asking artificial intelligence what to eat between meals. The finding, from Conagra Brands and research firm Circana, describes a change in the first step of a purchase.’
What seems to be happening is that shoppers are not necessarily looking for a specific brand of snack, but they’re looking for a specific type of snack and that is “healthier”. If you tell the chatbot, you’re looking for a high protein snack; it’s not going to look at the store’s shelves. It’s going to look at the entire Internet to find the snack that fits the criteria that you’ve laid out.
Not an unbiased survey.
Conagra Brands is itself a manufacturer of snack foods, including Slim Jims and Angie’s Boomchickapop popcorn, so it would be safe to say that it’s not an impartial survey, but it does give us some interesting Information. The snacking market is worth about $198 billion a year in retail sales.
When you look at the market value of snacks that are sold for specific benefits like protein, high fiber or hydration, you’re looking at a market that hit about $19 billion in sales last year. Protein all by itself hit $12.1 billion last year, and now the market survey is saying that buyers want to combine protein with other benefits like protein with probiotics, collagen, fiber, or hydration.
Reading the ingredients list.
Consumers are spending more time reading the ingredients list on their snack products. There’s no indication of whether or not the AI is doing the same thing, or if the person using the AI is being more specific in their questions.
Whether we like it or not, AI is intruding into all aspects of our lives, including what we choose for food and snacks, and sometimes we don’t even know if it’s there doing that job.
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