Confections and snacks compete for the same share-of-stomach, but are considered separate categories. 2016 saw the lines between the two areas blur as confection innovation picked up taste, texture, and ingredient cues from snacks.

One of the original convenience foods, breakfast cereal is no longer seen as convenient by younger consumers increasingly inclined to avoid milk and cereal in the morning.

Bakery food innovation in 2016 was a study in opposites with new product action focused at two extremes. There are indulgent products focused on taste as well as and healthful products with added functionality or fewer objectionable ingredients.

Last year was when confectionery makers finally took the clean label message to heart. They gave artificial ingredients the boot and focused on simple, less processed ingredients.

Year after year, the breadth and depth of snack and nutrition bar innovation continues to amaze and 2015 was no exception.

More bakery foods makers jumped on the clean label trend in 2015. It meant giving the boot to artificial flavors, trans fat, ingredients with genetically modified organisms, and high fructose corn syrup.

“You’ve come a long way, baby” is more than just a classic advertising slogan. It’s a phrase describing the innovation trajectory that inclusions have enjoyed in recent decades in the food industry.