That’s sort of a play on words about today’s topic. A new dietary poll suggests that Americans – and, by association, Canadians – think about food a total of 240 hours each year. But that doesn’t mean that, one day we wake up thinking about food and keep binging for 10 full days…
A sampling of Blue Diamond’s Sweet and Savoury Almond offerings…
Blue Diamond Almonds asked a professional polling company to survey Americans about their cravings. That wasn’t just a serendipitous idea; Blue Diamond is one of the biggest Almond brands in the U.S., and they wanted to know when and how to hit customers with their message; when folks were most likely to be thinking about having a snack.
What they discovered far surpassed their original expectations.
What they found…
The study found that most Americans thought about food about four times a day for an average of 10 minutes per episode, a total of 40 minutes per day. And, by averaging the times at which survey subjects reported thinking about food, the polling pros determined that 2:41 p.m. was the overall most likely time for the average person to crave a snack. I know: a lot of soft science there. But fun to play with.
More than two-thirds of Americans admitted to craving a snack at one time of the day or another. By far, the most popular flavour for that snack was sweet, followed by salty, spicy, savory and smoky, in that order. When it came to flavour combos, 58 percent of those asked said they would prefer a sweet-and-salty bite and 35 percent favoured salty-and-spicy. (Put me in the first category.)
What single food do folks crave most?
Chocolate easily eclipsed all the other choices combined. Nevertheless, Honey, Bacon, BBQ and Cheese also made respectable showings. As for their preferred texture, survey respondents overwhelmingly choose crunchy. Put them together and what have you got? Bacon-, BBQ- or Cheese-flavoured Potato or Corn Chips. And we know how those munchables fly off the shelves!
Distinct gender differences…
About 40 percent of women said that, when looking to alleviate stress, they would reach for something sweet, but only 30 percent of men agreed. On the other hand, while 20 percent of men would choose something spicy, only about 10 percent of women would do the same.
So… What does this tell Blue Diamond?
Advertise Chocolate-covered Almonds and sweet Almond products to women, and market salty-spicy-savoury Almonds and associated products to men. Come up with more Crunchy Almond products. Suggest, in your ads, that folks choose Almond products for their afternoon snacks, or to accompany their afternoon Coffee.
Blue Diamond already makes a wide variety of flavoured Almonds, Almond Thins (Wafer Cookies), and almond Milk beverages. Let’s sit back and see what Blue Diamond comes up with, ad- and product-wise, over the coming months…
~ Maggie J.