It is very difficult to protect this situation with patents, because there are three types of patents, invention, utility model and appearance. The product itself does not have the possibility of the two after the application. The application is an invention, but the innovation point is too low to support the novelty required by the invention patent and it is difficult to pass the patent protection. You can consider other management methods, such as keeping the production process as secret as possible, joining a specialty store, and participating in some titles such as "Chinese famous snacks" through local food associations after taking shape, and making brands.

In fact, this road is to take the trademark brand route. You can't protect the snack itself, so you should make a brand in the shortest time, or once it is launched, such as Quanjude's roast duck, there are many places like whose elbow and whose melon seeds. When they first had surgery, they had the same problem as you now. Patent is actually a monopoly, and the snack industry is very difficult. Therefore, taking the brand route will instill the first impression on consumers. After a long time, when people mention this kind of thing, they immediately think that yours is authentic. Now people's tastes have reached the point of tracing back to the source, so small that a string of Sugar-Coated Berry said they wanted that brand because he thought it was a root.

Please make your own decision, I hope I can help you.