Changing snack appetites leave granola bars behind

Americans have become picky when it comes to what they grab for a snack.

When reaching for snack bars, the biggest brands are getting overlooked.

Even as snack-bar sales are rising overall, giants in the field are seeing sluggish sales, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GIS	GENERAL MILLS INC.	66.26	+0.03	+0.05%
K	KELLANOVA	81.29	+0.14	+0.17%

Sales are falling for Nature Valley bars from General Mills and Special K bars from Kellogg.

Customers are leaving older brands behind and leaning toward snack bars that are higher in protein and low in sugar.

Snack-bar sales in the U.S. rose 3.2 percent last year, according to research firm Mintel.

Sales for older cereal and granola bar brands fell 3.7 percent in the year through August, according to Nielsen.

As a result, older brands including Nature Valley, Special K and Nutri-Grain that command the majority of snack-bar sales, have lost market share.

Big companies have also acquired and invested in faster-growing brands. Hershey recently bought One, a maker of low-sugar, high-protein bars.

Mondelez earlier this year purchased a majority stake in the owner of Perfect Bar, a refrigerated, protein-rich product, according to the Journal.