Potato chips have been considered one of the most popular snacks around the world for many years. The demand for them is determined by the growing consumption of packaged foods that are convenient to use as a snack. At the same time, manufacturing companies are constantly expanding their product lines, introducing new packaging formats and new flavors. It is also important to note that the trend towards a healthy lifestyle is the main deterrent to the more active growth of the chip market, as consumers are more likely to pay attention to more useful alternatives.
Asia
The Asian region is one of the leaders in the consumption of potato chips and ranks third in the world, primarily due to the huge market of China, Japan and India, where new products are constantly appearing on the market.
An important factor in the demand for potato chips in this region is one of the fastest rates of development of e-commerce, which has become the most important sales channel for these products. The largest chip manufacturers are increasing the number of production facilities in the countries of this region to meet the growing demand. Potato chips with adapted flavors that are familiar to the local population are in the greatest demand: chips with the taste of wasabi, sweet and sour sauce, seafood in Thai style, with the addition of garam masala spices. In order to compete with manufacturers of healthier snacks, such as, for example, chia seed loaves, potato chip manufacturers are trying to adapt their products and make them less caloric. As a rule, they reduce the use of artificial flavors or replace them with more natural ingredients, and instead of frying chips in oil, they bake them.
Europe
The European region is the leader in the consumption of potato chips in kind, which is primarily due to the established tradition of consumption of these products. There is a growing demand for organic potato chips among Europeans, especially in France, the UK and Germany. At the same time, manufacturers are introducing chips with natural flavors and with the "eco" or "organic" signs into their product ranges, reducing the use of harmful additives and flavor enhancers, as well as using oils without harmful trans fats in the process of roasting products. The demand for potato chips is also indirectly related to the culture of beer consumption in various countries, since chips are one of the most popular snacks purchased for this drink. On the other hand, the snack market in the EU is experiencing fierce competition from producers of nut snacks, dried meat snacks, crackers and crackers, the demand for which is also growing.
North America
North America is the leader in potato chip consumption in value terms, where the USA and Canada are the largest markets in the region. The tradition of eating chips in North American countries has also been well established for a long time.
Consumers in the region are open to new tastes and formats, which enables manufacturers to expand the range of products annually. For example, in 2021, one of the major chip brands Lay's, owned by PepsiCo, created a line of chips with flavors from different parts of the world, including chips with the taste of lobster roll, pimento cheese, Thai hot and sweet chili pepper from Southeast Asia, etc. The production of new products is not limited only to flavors, manufacturers also focus on more useful roasting methods and reduce the use of flavor enhancers.
Global market
In 2022, the global consumption of potato chips amounted to 4.05 million tons by 45.69 billion US dollars, which is 1.3% and 4.9% more in value than 2021. In 2018-2022, the global potato chips market grew annually by an average of 2.1% by weight and 4.9% by value. The growth rates in value terms exceed the rates in kind due to a significant increase in the prices of ingredients necessary for the manufacture of snacks in conditions of disruption of global supply chains against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. Potato chips are very popular all over the world, and the development of retail trade in developing countries is also a factor in the growth of this market.
In the structure of world consumption of potato chips, the largest region is Europe, which accounted for 32.9%. Consumption of potato chips on the European market in 2022 amounted to 1.33 million tons, which is 0.6% more than in 2021. The average annual growth rate for 2018-2022 was 2.5%.
The second largest consumer region of potato chips is North America. In 2022, consumption volumes amounted to 1.08 million tons (26.6% of the world market). Compared to 2021, the capacity of the North American potato chips market increased by 1.7%. The average annual growth rate for 2018-2022 was also at the level of 1.7%.
The Asia-Pacific region occupied 23.2% of the global potato chips market in 2022. In 2022, the consumption of this type of product in the Asia-Pacific countries amounted to 0.94 million tons (+0.5% by 2021). The average annual growth rate for 2018-2022 was 2.6%. Thus, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe are the fastest growing potato chip markets, which is due to the Westernization of consumer culture in Asian countries, ongoing urbanization and the growth of disposable incomes of the population.
Consumption of potato chips in the Middle East and Africa in 2022 amounted to 0.39 million tons, which is 3.0% more than in 2021. In the structure of consumption of these products, the region occupies 9.6% of the world market. On average, in 2018-2022, the indicator increased by 1.6% per year.
Latin America has a relatively small share in the global potato chip market — only 7.7%. The volume of consumption in 2022 amounted to 0.31 million tons, which is 3.3% more than in 2021. On average, in 2018-2022, the potato chips market in Latin America increased by 0.9%, demonstrating the most modest growth rates compared to other regions.
The structure of world consumption of potato chips in value terms differs somewhat from natural indicators due to uneven price dynamics in different regions. Thus, due to high inflation in North America, it was the North American region that became the leader in terms of sales of these products in 2022. Compared to 2021, the indicator increased by 14.4%, reaching $14.69 billion. Thus, the share of North America in the structure of world consumption of potato chips in value terms in 2022 amounted to 32.2%.
The North American region also shows the highest average annual growth rates of sales of these products — 7.5% for 2018-2022.
According to the results of 2022, the European region was the second in the structure of potato chips consumption by value, taking a share of 29.3%. Sales in Europe in 2022 increased by 1.0% compared to 2021, reaching $13.37 billion. The average annual growth rate for 2018-2022 was 4.7%.
The Asia-Pacific region became the only region that demonstrated a reduction in sales of potato chips. In 2022, the consumption of these products in value terms amounted to $10.68 billion, which is 3.3% less than in 2021. The decline in potato chip sales in this region is due to a reduction in consumption in China and Japan.
The Middle East and Africa account for 7.7% of the global sales structure of potato chips. Approximately the same share fell on Latin America — 7.5%.
In 2022, sales amounted to 3.52 and 3.43 billion US dollars, respectively. The volume of sales in value terms in the Middle East and Africa increased by 1.6% compared to 2021, while in Latin America the growth was 15.5%. The average annual growth rates for 2018-2022 were 4.2% and 3.0%, respectively.
The world leader in terms of consumption of potato chips by volume is the United States (23.0% of the world market). In 2022, consumption increased by 2.1% compared to 2021, reaching 931 thousand tons. The average annual growth rate for 2018-2022 was 1.8%. In the second place in the structure of global consumption of potato chips in 2022 was India, whose share was 6.0%. The market volume amounted to 242.3 thousand tons, which is 1.4% more than in 2021. Average annual growth rates for 2018-2022 they accounted for 3.4%, which makes the Indian market the fastest growing among the countries in the top 10 consumers of these products.
In addition to the USA and India, the top 5 countries in terms of consumption of potato chips in kind in 2022 included the United Kingdom, China and Japan, occupying 5.9%, 4.4% and 4.0% of the world market, respectively.
The leader in consumption of potato chips in value terms is also the United States, whose sales volume in 2022 amounted to $ 13,077.5 million (+16.0% by 2021). For 2018-2022, the average annual growth rate was 7.8%. Such a significant gap between the growth rates by volume and value terms is due to the increase in prices for goods in the category of snacks, caused by an increase in production costs in conditions of disruption of the supply chains of the necessary raw materials. As adaptive measures, manufacturers either preferred the production of premium and expensive products, or reduced the volume of packaging while maintaining the same price. As a result, in the USA there is a relatively restrained growth by volume with a rapid increase in sales. Nevertheless, it is expected that the American potato chip market will continue to grow due to the increasing popularity of ready-to-eat snacks, especially among people leading an urban lifestyle.
The volume of potato chips sales in the UK in 2022 amounted to $3,164.6 million, which is 4.2% less than in 2021. At the same time, the average annual growth rate for 2018-2022 was 3.3%. In the structure of global sales of potato chips in value terms, the UK ranks second with a share of 6.9%.
The main event in the British potato chips market was the tightening of regulation of products with a high content of fat, salt or sugar (HFSS). Restrictions are also related to the presentation of snacks in retail chains — a ban has been introduced on the location of potato chips and other HFSS products on shelves at the end of a row of racks, where they attract additional attention of customers. The introduction of measures to restrict the advertising of potato chips had an expected negative impact on the market of these products. According to forecasts, consumption by volume will decline in the next few years, but growth may resume later, while the ongoing uncertainty in the commodity market will support the growth of indicators in value terms in the medium term, despite a one-time decline in sales in 2022.
China and Japan accounted for 5.8% and 5.1% of global potato chip sales, respectively. According to forecasts, consumption in kind is expected to decrease in the medium term, but the increase in prices for most types of snacks will allow cost indicators to demonstrate positive dynamics.
Despite the fact that India ranks second in the structure of world consumption of potato chips by volume, in value terms it accounted for only 3.8% of the world market (6th place). In 2022, sales of potato chips in India amounted to US$ 1,747.1 million, which is 2.6% more than in 2021. The average annual growth rate for 2018-2022 was 5.6%. According to forecasts, the market of potato chips in India will grow both in kind and in value terms.
In 2022, global imports of potato chips amounted to 0.97 million tons worth 3.07 billion US dollars. In relation to 2021, volumes increased by 4.7% and 11.7% in value. In 2018-2022, global imports of potato chips decreased by 0.3% by weight annually. At the same time, the value indicator showed an annual average increase of 4.8%.
Germany (14.0% of imports), France (11.4%) and the USA (7.2%) were among the three largest importing countries of potato chips by volume by the end of 2022. In total, these countries accounted for 32.6% of world imports (320.9 thousand tons). In total, the top 10 countries accounted for 60.2% of world imports of potato chips by volume.
The largest increase in supplies was demonstrated by the United States, which increased imports of potato chips by volume by 24.1% or 13.7 thousand tons from 2018 to 2022.
In the structure of imports in value terms, the main share also fell on the USA (10.1% of imports), France (7.5%) and Germany (6.6%). In total, the top 10 countries accounted for 47.3% of world imports of potato chips in value terms. The largest increase in imports was demonstrated by the USA, for 2018-2022. The growth in value terms amounted to 57.6%.
In 2022, the world export of potato chips amounted to 1.10 million tons worth 3.04 billion US dollars. In comparison to 2021, volumes increased by 5.4% in kind and by 9.1% in value. In 2018-2022, world exports decreased by 0.7% by weight annually and grew in value by 3.9%.
The Netherlands (26.3% of exports) and Belgium (18.5%) occupied the leading positions in the structure of world exports of potato chips in volumes: in total, these countries accounted for 44.8% of exports (494.1 thousand tons). The top 5 countries also included the USA (8.8%), Germany (6.2%) and Poland (4.9%). In total, the top 10 potato chip suppliers accounted for 82.1% of global potato chip exports in volumes.
The Netherlands (14.4%), Belgium (11.6%) and the USA (10.6%) also held leading positions in the value structure of world potato chips exports: in total, these countries accounted for 36.6% of the value exports of this type of product (1.1 billion US dollars). The top 5 countries also included Russia (6.2%) and Poland (5.8%). In total, the top 10 suppliers accounted for 72.9% of global potato chip exports in value terms.
