Consumers want taste AND nutrition, not a trade-off. Glanbia’s “Pleasure with Purpose” campaign backs that up with real data: 64% of non-buyers cite taste/texture as the barrier to protein bars. Their ingredient lineup (OvenPro, Crunchie, EdiSparklz) is built to close that gap.
One in three consumers globally now lists health and wellbeing as a top spending priority. At the same time, “tastes good” is the single most important attribute those same consumers want in active nutrition products. That’s a staggering figure, and it tells you where the food industry is headed. It’s the market reality Glanbia built its new “Pleasure with Purpose“ campaign around.
The central idea is straightforward: consumers are done choosing between indulgence and nutrition. The idea of having a “trade-off” is simply outdated at this point — shoppers expect both, delivered in the same bite. They now demand food that tastes good and does good, delivered in formats that are satisfying, shareable, and stacked with functional benefits. Glanbia’s campaign, launched in early 2026, gives ingredient buyers and food brands a consumer framework and an ingredient toolkit to meet that expectation across baked goods, extruded snacks, bars, cereals, and beyond.
We’ve been tracking Glanbia’s snacking work for a while now. Our companion piece, Glanbia’ Better-for-You Snack Setup: BarPro, Crunchies, and Functional Bioactives Transform Protein Snacking, covers the full ingredient specs across their protein platforms. We’ve also covered these topics in depth with their team on our podcast, including extrusion technology in Episode #185 and the OvenPro platform and protein baked goods white space in Episode #199.
This article focuses on what “Pleasure with Purpose” means for the broader market and how Glanbia’s portfolio delivers it in practice. Stay current on all Glanbia news and campaign launches, then let’s get into the market forces driving this timely campaign:
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The New Wellness Equation
The numbers behind this campaign are worth sitting with. Innova Market Insights found that 59% of consumers globally describe their approach to healthy living as proactive, and 39% say they’ve taken significant action to live healthier over the past twelve months. Health consciousness is genuinely widespread, not a niche trend.
Glanbia data shows health ranks high on consumer spending lists — but taste still wins at the point of purchase in active nutrition.
But health consciousness doesn’t override taste at the point of purchase. In Glanbia’s own consumer research, “tastes good” ranked as the #1 characteristic sought in active nutrition products, above protein content, above convenience, above price. When consumers who don’t buy protein bars are asked why, 64% point to taste and texture as the barrier. The opportunity isn’t getting consumers to care about health — they already do. It’s delivering health credentials in a format they actually want to eat.
Snacking is the primary battleground for this dynamic. According to Glanbia’ data, the average American reaches for sweet snacks 6.4 times per week and savory snacks 6.1 times per week. That’s a lot of occasions, and 52% of those consumers are actively trying to make healthier choices each time.
Americans snack sweet or savory over six times a week, yet taste and texture remain the primary reason non-buyers skip protein snacks entirely.
Brad Meyers, Glanbia’s VP of Functional Proteins and Snacking, laid out a useful lens for this in Podcast Episode #199: protein has become a health signal. When consumers see it on a label, they perceive the product as healthier automatically. That signal works in a brand’s favor, but only if the product earns the pickup in the first place, which means taste has to come first.
Indulgence Starts with the Senses
The texture data from this campaign is specific enough to drive actual product decisions. Rich flavor and crispy/crunchy texture both scored 36% as top indulgence drivers across global consumers, tied for first. Creamy texture followed at 33%. Exotic or unusual textures ranked at the bottom of the list, at 13%. Consumers want tried-and-trusted textural experiences, not novelty.
Rich flavor and crispy/crunchy texture tied as the top factors consumers associate with an indulgent food or beverage experience.
When you zoom in to snacking specifically, 74% of global consumers say taste, flavor, and texture are the most important factors in snack selection, according to Innova’s 2025 data. And 56% agree that crunchy or crispy texture specifically makes a snack feel indulgent. Texture isn’t an add-on… it’s a core purchase driver.
Taste, flavor, and texture dominate snack purchase decisions globally, with over half of consumers specifically calling out crunch as what makes a snack feel worth it.
What the “Pleasure with Purpose” framework adds to this is the visual dimension. Indulgence starts before the first bite. Color, shape, and form influence how a product feels just from looking at it. Familiar shapes (bars, donuts, clusters) trigger comfort and craveability before any sensory experience happens. Glanbia calls this the “gateway moment”: get the visual right, and taste and texture carry the rest naturally.
22% of consumers now replace meals with snacks. Glanbia Nutritionals’ BarPro® proteins, Crunchie™ inclusions, and functional bioactives solve the texture and taste challenges that have plagued high-protein snacks for years.
Layered textures amplify that effect. Combining smooth with crunchy, or soft with crisp, creates depth and memorability. According to Mintel Purchase Intelligence’s data from 2017 through 2023, limited-time offers with textural contrast consistently outperform standard products in purchase intent. Social media is accelerating the LTO flywheel: more than 1 in 3 consumers globally follow viral food and beverage trends online, and visual appeal has become its own form of product distribution.
Natural color trends are converging with this. Globally, 43% of consumers say they’re avoiding artificial food colorings, and 51% believe naturally sourced flavors are healthier. Matcha, for instance, has 9.7 million Instagram posts and 3.3 million TikTok posts. Ube, hibiscus, and pistachio are climbing. These ingredients handle color and flavor simultaneously while carrying a natural health halo, exactly what the Pleasure with Purpose framework calls “multifunctional”.
Matcha, hibiscus, and ube are pulling double duty — delivering natural color and flavor while racking up millions of posts on Instagram and TikTok.
Why Single-Function Snacks Feel Outdated
The modern snacker isn’t optimizing for one benefit. They’re stacking.
When US and Canadian consumers are asked what ingredients they want in their snacks, protein leads at 62%, followed by fiber at 48%, vitamins at 43%, minerals and probiotics at 24% each, and omega-3 at 21%. This goes well beyond a single ask. Globally, 58% of consumers say they actively include protein in their diets. And their understanding of what protein does has expanded well beyond muscle: consumers now recognize it for energy, satiety, weight management, brain health, and immune function. That breadth makes protein the anchor of the stack, but the stack doesn’t end there.
Feeling better physically leads the list of reasons consumers reach for healthier snacks, while protein and fiber top the ingredients they want inside.
Younger consumers are pushing this the hardest. About 1 in 3 say the best way to make indulgent snacks healthier is to add functional ingredients that boost nutrition. They don’t want a health product in snack clothing. They want genuinely indulgent products that also happen to deliver nutrition.
Today’s snacker wants protein, fiber, vitamins, and probiotics rolled into a single eating occasion — not spread across separate products.
The NielsenIQ sales data validates this, too. High-protein baked goods (15g or more per serving) grew 29% in dollar sales year over year. Low-protein products (5g to less than 10g) declined 2%. Within better-for-you baking, high-protein products hold only 2% of the category today, which means the headroom is enormous. The savory snack space tells a parallel story: the variety index for global savory protein and functional snacks went from 100 in 2019 to 225 in 2025.
More than half of global consumers are actively adding protein to their diets, with pea protein leading plant-based alternatives in new food and beverage launches.
Protein cereal is the most immediate proof point. NielsenIQ’s data shows that the top extruded protein-fortified cereal brands drove 66% category growth while standard cereal grew 6%. And 7 in 10 protein cereal occasions are snacking occasions, not breakfast! In Episode #185 of our podcast, Jonathan Baner and James Stone talked about what makes those growth numbers possible: extrusion technology that can push protein levels while preserving exactly the crunchy texture consumers expect. That’s the technical challenge that Glanbia’s Crunchie platform addresses.
Nearly three-quarters of consumers view cereal and energy bars as a healthy snack choice, with emerging formats like protein bites and balls expanding the category further.
How Glanbia Delivers Pleasure with Purpose
Consumer demand is clear. Execution is where most brands get stuck. Glanbia’s contribution is an ingredient and application ecosystem designed to bridge that gap across the full range of better-for-you snacking formats.
Glanbia’s North America snack protein lineup spans baked goods, extruded pieces, chia, and flaxseed — each engineered for specific texture, nutrition, and manufacturing needs.
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OvenPro® for Protein Baked Goods
OvenPro® combines milk protein concentrate and wheat protein at a minimum 76% protein level. It can replace flour partially or entirely while maintaining the texture and machinability that baked goods manufacturing requires. The application list covers cookies, muffins, brownies, crackers, pretzels, cakes, donuts, and pastries.
Brad Meyers, VP of Functional Proteins and Snacking at Glanbia Nutritionals, breaks down the food science behind better-for-you protein products, from solving the protein bar hardness problem to designing the innovative OvenPro platform for high-protein baked goods on Episode #199 of the PricePlow Podcast.
Brad Meyers’ discussion in episode #199 mapped out the white space clearly: most of the baked goods market sits in the low-protein tier that’s actually shrinking. OvenPro is the ingredient that pushes a product into the 15g-plus tier while still producing something consumers buy because it tastes good. The campaign’s mini muffin concept (“Yeti Bites”) illustrates this: 10g protein per serving, soft-baked, low sugar, White Chocolate Raspberry flavor (a flavor profile that grew 61% year over year for muffins).
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Crunchie for Extruded Snacks and Inclusions
Crunchie™ Semi-Finished Extruded Protein Pieces currently come in two types of protein : a milk protein concentrate option (70% to 85% MPC) and a pea protein option (40% to 63%). Both deliver the consistent shape, size, color, and clean flavor that manufacturing demands. Importantly, both offer a complete protein solution.
The extrusion science behind these is what Episode #185 walked through: the specific process conditions that produce crunchy texture at high protein levels. Brands that work with Crunchie get that technical work already done. The campaign’s extruded snack bite concept (“Crispa”) shows the commercial output: 16g protein, plant-based, no added sugar, Green Curry flavor (a profile up 169% year over year in snack mix).
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EdiSparklz® for the Visual Dimension
EdiSparklz Edible Glitter handles the visual layer. These are 100% edible, calorie-free, flavor-free toppings or inclusions that are bake and freeze-thaw stable. One pound of EdiSparklz Flakes replaces 20 to 30 pounds of traditional sprinkles at a 0.1% to 0.5% use rate. They won’t melt or lose color on a slightly moist surface. The label story is clean: no sugar, no hydrogenated vegetable oils, allergen-free, and compliant with the USDA Bioengineered Food List.
EdiSparklz Edible Glitter adds visual pop to snacks with no calories, no allergens, and the stability to survive baking and freeze-thaw cycles.
For brands building LTO products or anything designed for social shareability, this addresses the visual indulgence piece without caloric cost or ingredient list complications.
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Flavor Solutions and Nutrient Premixes
Two flavor businesses operate under Glanbia’s umbrella: Flavor Producers (US) and Foodarom (Canada, Europe, and Latin America). Both specialize in masking the off-notes that functional ingredients introduce, a problem that can make or break a high-protein finished product regardless of how good the texture is.
Jonathan Baner (Senior R&D Director) and James Stone (VP of Global Marketing & Insights) from Glanbia Nutritionals reveal how twin screw extrusion technology is revolutionizing protein fortification in snacks, pushing protein levels from 5-7% up to 85% while maintaining the crunch consumers crave on Episode #185 of the PricePlow Podcast.
The premix side covers the micronutrient stacking consumers want. TechVantage® Functionally Optimized Nutrients (NutraShield® microencapsulations and UniTrit® triturations) are built to survive high-heat processes and extrusion conditions. The campaign’s cracker concept (“Opti Bite”) shows the full stack in action: 10g protein from OvenPro and CuisineChia Protein, vitamin and mineral fortification, Sweet Sesame Ginger flavor (up 152% year over year for crackers).
For the full ingredient spec breakdown (including BarPro for protein bars, KetoSure MCT, Prolibra, and BevWise 1000), see our companion piece, Glanbia’ Better-for-You Snack Setup: BarPro, Crunchies, and Functional Bioactives Transform Protein Snacking.
The Opportunity in Front of Food Brands
“Pleasure with Purpose” names a shift that the sales data already confirms. High-protein is growing. Low-protein is shrinking. The snack formats leading the next wave (extruded bites, protein cereal, better-for-you bakery) all share the same formula: taste and texture lead, nutrition follows without compromise.
Glanbia’s position is that ingredient science is what makes the “no trade-offs” claim real rather than aspirational. Their proteins, flavor systems, visual enhancement tools, and nutrient premixes are engineered to work together across the formats gaining share.
Glanbia’s four-pillar framework ties together wellness priorities, multi-sensory indulgence, functional snacking demand, and the ingredient innovation opportunities that follow.
If your brand is building in this space, the Pleasure with Purpose hub on the Glanbia site is a practical starting point. Their Solutions for Snacks section lets you explore the full ingredient portfolio and start the conversation with their team.
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