Corn chips are savory snack food prepared byeither deep frying or baking cornmeal. These are Mexican corn products that have gained popularity and acceptability worldwide in recent times. Corn products such as corn chips and tortilla chips are produced and consumed from earlier times in Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, and others. Corn chips generally have a crunchy and rigid texture with added seasonings to enhance the palatability. The tortilla corn chips are prepared by the alkali treatment process of corn known as nixtamalization forming the masa which further involves salt addition, mixing, sheeting, cutting, and frying. The recent commercial production of corn chips is done by the extrusion process of cornmeal. Corn chips were commercially introduced by Fritos, one of the widely recognized brands in the U.S. in 1932. Recently, the corn chips are consumed in different varieties of ready-to-eat (RTE) products such as tortilla chips, nachos, and Frito pie.Corn chips have gained popularity in recent times and January 29 is considered as national corn chip day in the U.S.

Market scope and structure analysis:

COVID-19 Scenario Analysis: 

• The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the corn chips market as the procurement of raw material has become challenging due to the lockdown scenario and transport restrictions. 
• The manufacturing units have been temporarily shut down due to the increase in number of coronavirus cases and this has led to the shortage in production, manpower, and interruption in the supply chain.
• The distribution channels have shut down due to the lockdown scenario. The panic buying of snacks such as corn chips caused initially due to the pandemic resulted in the shortage of stock in the supermarkets and retail stores,in turn affecting the sales and demand of corn chips market.

Top Impacting Factors:Market Scenario Analysis, Trends, Drivers and Impact Analysis

Corn chips are processed and consumed for a long time by the means of traditional practices in households but as the technology has advanced the new variants of corn chips have gained immense popularity. Tortilla corn chips were originated in the 1950s and are one of the largest consumed varieties of corn. The increase in awareness about new products, enhanced nutritional value of corn chips, enhanced palatability of the product, value addition in corn chips, increase in consumption of snack foods, raw material quality, the introduction of better technology such as extrusion, production of thinner, lighter and small product, innovation and new product development, investment in R&D, high automation, use of corn chips as an ingredient, increasing urbanization, the introduction of variants in the flavor of corn chips and improvement of product quality are the key drivers which leadsgrowth of global corn chips market. However, traditional method of processing, the shelf life of the product, increased competition, allergic reactions due to corn, increase in carbohydrate and fat content, availability of substitute products, and regulatory hurdles hinder the market growth.

The global corn chips market trends are as follows:

Variants of corn chips

Generally, snacks are considered to be empty-calorie foods that do not have high nutritional value, therefore the key manufacturers have been inclined toward the processing of corn chips, which have nutritional value and become the diet-healthy option among the various varieties of snacks. The cornmeal has a low glycemic index, unsaturated fat, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, and zinc which make corn chips rich in vitamins and minerals.The nixtamalization used for the alkali treatment of the cornmeal breaks down the hemicelluloses content and enhance the nutritional quality of the corn chips.    Tortilla corn chips are produced from the white corn, yellow corn, whole wheat flour, and blue cornmeal along with flavorings and seasoning to enhance the palatability. For the processing of tortilla chips, the ancient Aztec technology is still used along with the modern extrusion process.

Several types of research have been done to study the nutritional value of the corn chips and for enhancing the product quality. The combination of cornmeal with wheat, legumes, cooked bean flour, and others have created a new nutritionally enhanced corn chips product in the market. The key players in the corn chips market are inclined towards improving the quality of the corn chips, less salt, increased fiber, gluten-free cornmeal, launching different varieties of palatable flavors, enhancing the shelf life of the product by new packaging and eliminating the frying process by introducing the baked corn chips for reducing the fat and calories content in the end product.

Key Segments Covered:

Key Benefits of the Report:

• This study presents the analytical depiction of the global corn chips industry along with the current trends and future estimations to determine the imminent investment pockets.
• The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities along with a detailed analysis of the global corn chips market share.
• The current market is quantitatively analyzed from 2020 to 2027 to highlight the global corn chips market growth scenario.
• Porter’s five forces analysis illustrates the potency of buyers & suppliers in the market. 
• The report provides detailed global corn chips market analysis based on competitive intensity and how the competition will take shape in the coming years.

Questions Answered in the Corn Chips Market Research Report:

• What are the leading market players active in the corn chips market?
• What the current trends will influence the market in the next few years?
• What are the driving factors, restraints, and opportunities in the market?
• What future projections would help in taking further strategic steps?