Snack Bars

Can chilled children’s nutrition brand Once Upon a Farm do for snack bars what it did for baby food?

28-Sep-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

With this week’s launch of three Refrigerated Oat Bars, children’s nutrition brand Once Upon a Farm is hoping to do for children’s snack bar category what it did for baby food in 2015 when it debuted its high-pressure-processed baby food in pouches merchandized...

Belliwelli’s ‘goal is to make gut health mainstream,’ expands nationally in Target locations

07-Sep-2023 By Deniz Ataman

On Sept. 17, the gut-friendly snack bar brand BelliWelli will be available in 1,554 Target locations nationwide -- adding to the more than 1,000 new doors the brand expanded into in the past year, Katie Wilson, CEO, Belliwelli told FoodNavigator-USA.

TreeHouse Foods sells snack bar business as part of broader transformation to become ‘a focused private label leader in high-growth and high-margin categories'

06-Sep-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Private-label leader TreeHouse Foods’ sale of its Lakeville, Minn., manufacturing facility and snack bar business to John B Sanfilippo & Son for $63m in cash, announced this morning, is the latest in a string of sales and acquisitions designed to...

Nellson CCO bites into snack bar trends: flexitarian in, keto out

24-Aug-2023 By Ryan Daily

With the ebbs and flows of consumer demand, the snack bar market is preparing to meet the demand for more plant-based protein with flexitarian products, as some recent diet claims might be on the way out, Bart Child, CCO at Nellson, told FoodNavigator-USA.

Cultivating transparency and taste: Simple Bars' clean label, no-sugar bars

10-Aug-2023 By Deniz Ataman

In a dense market like the snack bar category, brands are challenged with distinguishing themselves through ingredients, nutrition, marketing and packaging. For Amanda Ament, CEO of Simple Bars, ingredients, certified no-sugar labeling and packaging are...

Summer Fancy Food Show

How Bobo's stays rooted to its oat core while branching into different flavors and formats

07-Aug-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Playing off a classic nostalgic flavor, Bobo's recently launched its peanut butter and jelly-filled bars, that was featured during the Summer Fancy Food Show which took place June 25-27 at the Javits Center in New York City, where Bobo's CEO,...

Free Webinar: Raising the Snack Bar - Exploring Growth Drivers, Innovations and Consumer Cravings

27-Jul-2023 By Deniz Ataman

What does it take to stand out in the saturated snack bar crowd? FoodNavigator-USA’s recent webinar, Raising the Snack Bar: Exploring Growth Drivers, Innovations and Consumer Cravings featured an expert panel on the various considerations brands must...

Upcoming webinar: How snack bar brands can carve out a space in a crowded market

19-Jul-2023 By Deniz Ataman

FoodNavigator-USA will present its free editorial webinar, Raising the Snack Bar: Exploring Growth Drivers, Innovations and Consumer Cravings on July 26 at 11:30 AM CT. The webinar will feature a panel of snack bar experts who will explore how key differentiators...

From savings to sales: How ELAVI built its gut-friendly snack bar business

10-Jul-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Discovering a white space for nutritious and functional protein snack bars while working several jobs in fitness and in corporate marketing, Michelle Razavi and Nikki Elliott launched ELAVI's collagen protein bars months before the pandemic. Driven...

Summer Fancy Food Show

Scott's Protein Balls launches new flavor, focuses on taste, nutrition and activism

10-Jul-2023 By Deniz Ataman

FoodNavigator-USA spoke to Scott Protein Balls' co-founder, Lori Levine and Tricia Williams, CEO, Daily Dose about how the protein snack brand continues driving growth through convenient formats, nutrition, transparency and activism during the Summer...

Whole seeds and nutrition are among key snack bar trends at Fancy Food Show

29-Jun-2023 By Deniz Ataman

As Americans return to a post-pandemic routine marked by more evening shopping trips and a preference for better-for-you convenient snacks, the snack bar category continues to evolve to meet their needs with notable trends featured during the Fancy Food...

Sweet Nothings expands shelf-stable snack portfolio with help of e-com partners

30-Mar-2023 By Ryan Daily

Organic snacking brand Sweet Nothings continues to expand beyond the frozen smoothie segment with the help of two new flavors of its Nut Butter Bites, brand CEO and co-founder Jake Kneller told FoodNavigator-USA.

Bobo's opens 'super bakery' to meet pent-up consumer demand: 'The stage is well-set for us to eclipse $100m next year,' says CEO

09-Nov-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Having outgrown its three facilities in Colorado, Bobo's is moving into its two-years-in-the-making 'super bakery' which will give it enough capacity to triple its output of bars and put it on track to eclipse $100m in revenue next year.

General Mills revamps its innovation strategy to leverage tiger teams to find, quickly seize opportunities

06-Jun-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Even as General Mills adopts an ‘always on’ approach to mergers & acquisitions, it remains dedicated to driving organic growth through innovation by deploying elite tiger teams to identify consumer problems and then develop and test solutions-oriented...

'Fresher, cleaner granola bar'... Mooski enters refrigerated bar space with chilled oat bar line

03-Jun-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

San Diego-based Mooski is carving out a niche spot for itself in the emerging refrigerated bar space with a chilled oat bar line which offers consumers a fresher, cleaner version of the traditional granola bar, says founder Robert Broome.

Bobo's CEO on supply chain woes: 'It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better'

01-Jun-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Oat bar company Bobo's is continuing its growth streak, predicting 45% growth for the full year 2022 vs. 2021 even as challenging supply chain conditions linger, says CEO TJ McIntyre.

NuSkool Snacks finds growth in recovering snack and nutrition bar category: 'Our retail numbers are off the charts'

12-Jul-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Despite overall declines of the snack and nutrition bar category over the past year, NuSkool Snacks (formerly MCTco) saw demand for its brand – and other low-sugar bar products like it increase – reports founder and CEO Joe Christensen.

'Do we really need another snack bar?' asks Rabobank

10-Jun-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Does the market need another snack bar? In short, probably not, but it may be time for a reset of the bellwether category, says Nicholas Fereday, senior analyst, consumer foods at Rabobank.

Healthy Height targets growing kids snack bar market with functional, ‘picky-eater approved’ bars

19-May-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Nutritional Growth Solutions (NGS) and its Healthy Height brand is entering the kids snack bar category with a bar line that balances research-based, “growth-boosting” nutrients with a kid-approved flavor profile.

WEBINAR HIGHLIGHTS

Snack bar trends: What's next for the category?

22-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

With so many emerging bar brands vying for space in a crowded market dominated by large CPG -- Clif Bar, KIND (Mars), RXBAR (Kellogg's) -- and retail sales still down in 2021, what's the future of the bar set, and how can brands punch above...

Register now: Free webinar exploring snack bar trends Wednesday April 21

14-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

While a downturn in sales for snack bars in the past year suggest consumer demand has softened, snacking behavior has hit a fever pitch and innovation in this set is hotter than ever as brands evolve to meet shifting consumer demands.

Clio Snacks debuts snackable parfait bars: ‘The bar category will continue to grow if innovation is injected into it’

07-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Fresh snacking brand Clio Snacks – known for its chocolate covered Greek yogurt bars – had a breakout year in 2020, says VP of marketing Rachel Moore. This year, the company is ramping brand awareness and customer trial with its newest product innovation:...

NEWS IN BRIEF

KIND acquires fig bar brand Nature's Bakery

02-Dec-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

KIND's pending acquisition of Nature's Bakery, a family-owned, better-for-you snacking company best known for its soft-baked fig bars, gives the nutrition bar giant and its parent company Mars a stronger foothold in the nut-free snack bar category....

New leader in fresh snacking? Clio Snacks closes $8m funding round and doubles revenue this year

26-Aug-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Clio Snacks -- known its for chilled, chocolate-covered Greek yogurt bars -- has closed an $8m series C fundraising round led by long-term investment partner Alliance Consumer Growth (ACG) and new investor in the brand, AF Ventures, bringing total investment...

MCTco protein keto bars enter beauty-from-within and immunity categories

13-Jul-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

MCTco is competing in the highly-competitive snack bar category, addressing major consumer demands around protein and sugar content as well as emerging ‘beauty-from-within’ and immunity trends with its line of products containing collagen protein and...

Blake's Seed Based founder: 'It’s important that we’re not just an allergen brand'

17-Jun-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Emerging brand Blake's Seed Based is filling a void in the snack bar category by providing consumers with a product that is free from the top eight allergens but also appealing to anyone looking for alternatives to nut-based and granola bars, says...

Snack Bar Trends: Join us for a FREE webinar on emerging trends, branding strategies, and market research

08-Jun-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

How is 2020 reshaping the snack bar market, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the latest diet trends and go-to-market brand strategies?

Growth ‘turned sharply negative’ for snack and nutritional bars after coronavirus hit, says Bernstein

15-May-2020 By Elaine Watson

Sales growth in most snack and nutritional bar segments – categories associated with convenience, on-the-go consumption and sports - has dropped sharply since coronavirus hit, with the biggest drops in performance nutrition (-20% in March/April), meal...

Improving post-game snack culture for kids: ‘So many kids are at games just to get their treat afterwards,’ says study author

17-Mar-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

A study led by researchers at Brigham Young University (BYU) found that the energy and calories burned during youth programs is often nutritionally undermined by the types of snacks kids commonly receive as a post-game routine.

General Mills is banking on a new box of $13 cereal & other innovations in yogurt, bars to buoy sales

19-Feb-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

General Mills’ strategy to accelerate top line growth by investing heavily in categories that have been declining, slowing or becoming increasingly crowded may seem counter-intuitive, but according to CEO Jeff Harmening, it is working.

GOODTO GO enters US retail market filling the dessert, snack time keto void

14-Feb-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Based in Canada, GOODTO GO keto-friendly bars recently launched in the US in Sprouts stores nationwide, with other national retail partnerships to follow, tapping into the keto consumer craze taking off in the wider snacking category.

Humming Hemp heads into conventional retail with superfood bars: 'This is how you get household adoption rates up'

02-Aug-2019 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Humming Hemp is on a mission to increase household penetration of hemp food products and is targeting mainstream consumers through conventional retail channels including a nationwide distribution deal with Kroger later this year.

Keto brand love good fats raises $5m to fuel US launch: There ought to be a brand that really carries the voice for ‘let’s all eat good fats’

12-Dec-2018 By Mary Ellen Shoup

After becoming a blockbuster hit in Canada – growing from 200 to over 2,500 stores in less than a year – keto snack bar brand, love good fats, will be launching into 450 Whole Foods stores in the US backed by a $5m equity raise from individual investors...

Behind the Brand: Matt n' Mike's on making a superfood bar for kids

03-Dec-2018 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Within the adults snack bar category consumers can find everything from cold-pressed chilled bars made with whole fruits and vegetables to a myriad of clean label alternatives of protein bars. But when it came to snack bars for kids, the options were...

Absolutely Gluten Free: ‘We have big plans for bringing all things tahini to the US market’

20-Sep-2018 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Absolutely Gluten Free’s TahiniBAR (launched in May) is aiming to make tahini-flavored snacks an everyday on-the-go item as the brand makes its way from independent natural retailers to a major mass retailer this December.

Mars appeals to health-conscious consumer with goodnessknows national launch

29-May-2015 By Elizabeth Crawford

The inclusion of dried fruit in Mars Chocolate North America’s goodnessknows snack squares helps deliver the sweetness consumers seek from confections, while also helping the candy-giant deliver on its commitment to offer options with limited added sugar. 

Native Brazilian fruit holds snack bar promise: Study

21-Nov-2013 By Kacey Culliney

The marolo fruit should be used in flour form for snack bars because of its powerful nutritional properties and ability to improve taste and quality, researchers say.

‘Kellogg can’t afford to be less competitive in cereals’: Analyst

07-May-2013 By Kacey Culliney

Investment in cereal makes sense for Kellogg because it cannot sideline such an important segment but snacks should really be the priority, an analyst says.