Expert’s best snacks to buy right now

It’s fair to say Laura Goodman is all-in when it comes to the world of snacking. Her regular column for Grazia on the subject of the most elite snacks led to the release of her second book, The Joy of Snacks in 2022. And she admits she absolutely cannot get enough of them in all their forms, from those tempting morsels snatched from the fridge on the way out the door, to packets of salt and vinegar crisps, eaten under a duvet in front of the telly, or platters of cheese and charcuterie, neatly laid out for friends to munch on over a glass or two of wine.

Laura talks to Speciality Food about the rise of snacking culture, why independent retailers should be paying attention to the on-the-go market, and the snacks she thinks will lead the way in the future.

Why do you love snacks?
What I’ve realised is that it’s easy to find life quite high pressure, and snacks are very low pressure. They can be whatever you want them to be ... whatever you need them to be at that moment. They don’t come with the same stress as trying to decide what you’re having for dinner that night. Even if you’ve always been someone who likes planning, when you have kids it becomes like another job to do, and earlier than you might have done before.

Snacks don’t come with any of that. I like the idea of having people and instead of sitting around the table, pushing the furniture out of the way and sharing drinks and snacks. It can be anything. A bag of crisps, nice butter on good bread, or a giant cheeseboard.

Do you have a favourite snacking memory from childhood?
Just crisps, I think. I still love crisps. Randomly, I remember Jamie Demetriou talking about them in a Guardian interview and it made me think about the crackle of the packet, and my mum paying for salt and vinegar crisps in Tesco, my mouth watering watching them come through the till.

Also, mum was a big baker. There was always a cake around. She used to make a chocolate cake, the most simple chocolate cake with chocolate icing, and I’d sit there playing with it, crumbling it up and stuffing it in my face.

Why did you write a book about snacks?
It started as a snack column for Grazia. I’d already written Carbs and I wasn’t really sure where to go after that, but snacks seemed to be this kind of universal truth for me. I was in Japan when I was pushing the idea through, and they’re so good at snacking. Our hotel was right across from a 7-Eleven and we couldn’t go back to our room without picking up an armful of snacks. I sensed snacks were becoming more important in the UK, and it was interesting learning about them in a place where they’ve always been important. Sometimes I’ll start a project and think, ‘I’ve done the eight ideas I have to do, what do I do next?’ but with this it seemed like I had a never-ending well of material. That’s why I ended up writing the book.

The ‘big night in’ trend is huge right now. Why should retailers be upping their game in the snacking aisle?

A lot of this is that we’re broke and depressed, but we still want some nice things. I don’t eat out anywhere as much as I used to, but I will buy a tin of fancy sardines for myself. I do think that’s the way we’re going. These are sort of small ways to bring joy to people, I think. People are looking for what’s new and fun, and what they want is changing quickly. If retailers aren’t paying attention, they’re missing out.

Snacks are easy wins for consumers and businesses. I know a lot of cookbooks and supermarkets go on about quick, easy dinners, which is very helpful, but a bit joyless. I do wonder if we’re now getting the joy we used to have from spending a lot of time on dinner, from something smaller during the day. 

What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in snacking recently?
For 30 years the dip area never changed in the supermarket. Everyone was picking up things like caramelised onion hummus, or a version of hummus, some tzatziki, very pink taramasalata, or a Mexican dip. Now there seems to be a new dip every time I go to the shops and that makes me happy. I do think it’s an area we could do a bit better with though.

How about the ‘next big thing’ in snacking?
I feel like there’s a lot more cheese flavours around, and cheese snacks. Those little bits of cheese wrapped in ham that M&S started out with have been copied in all the supermarkets. People like those deli-type snacks more.

There’s a lot of breakfast snacking coming through too, like kefir. Things you can have on-the-go to make you feel good. Breakfast is not just cereal bars anymore, people are thinking outside of that.

Tinned fish is huge as well, and I love it.

Then the other thing is condiments – ways to elevate your snack at home. We’re seeing so much more of that – choosing chilli jams, mustards, relishes, and crispy chilli oils (which no one seems to be without). People are looking to ‘max out’ that snack moment, whether it’s with their coffee in the morning, or wine in the evening, and I think condiments are a way of doing that, trying to make snacks the best they can be.

What are the best snacks?
1. I like a ‘holiday crisp’ Crisps that feel like they belong to a place, like oregano crisps from Greece, Dijon mustard from France, or Truffle crisps from Italy. You can take a little ‘crisp holiday’ when you eat them.

2. I love a cheese ball. I think they’re a bit outrageous and hilarious, and they thrill people at the same time.

3. Salsas. It doesn’t get fresher, and they just wake you up.

4. I love all the Bordier butters. I first met them dripping all over the galettes in Brittany and actually went to the factory and saw it being churned. It is so silky, and I love the flavours it comes in – especially the seaweed. But ultimately the salted one on good bread is an unbeatable snack. 

5. Similarly, I love Edmond Fallot mustards for mixing into mayonnaise and serving with eggs for a quick oeufs mayo. 

6. All the tinned sardines with the most beautiful labels, ideally a selection box of all of them. I recently loved the extra virgin olive and oil and chilli ones from Papa Anzois. 

7. My favourite chocolate bars are from Dormouse in Manchester. I eat a lot of dark chocolate, but also love their darker than the average milk bars, which are so delicious. I wish they were easier to get hold of! The wrappers are gorgeous too. I also love buying the beautiful bars by ARTHOUSE as magical gifts.

8. The crisps from Fairfields Farm are my bag – just really chunky and crunchy and loaded with flavour. Similarly, Savoursmiths Wagyu Beef with Honey & Mustard is just a big bag of umami. And Superbon and Torres for truffle crisps, which, despite being terribly basic, I can’t stop loving them.