Snacks

WATCH: EXPO WEST 2022 'We’re on a rocket ship...' Tattooed Chef expands into new categories beyond frozen

21-Mar-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Tattooed Chef, a rapidly-growing plant-based frozen foods brand, is entering new categories beyond the frozen foods aisle and into refrigerated snack bars and snacking chips.

Natural Products Expo West

Fruit snacks without the fruit? Eat the Change’s Cosmic Carrot Chews offer new twist on an old favorite

18-Mar-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Despite efforts in recent years to disrupt the roughly $5b fruit snack market with better-for-you options made with more, whole or only fruit, the category remains dominated by legacy products high in added sugars and fillers and low in nutritional value...

JM Smucker lowers guidance as inflation rises and supply chain, labor challenges linger

02-Mar-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

JM Smucker continues to be dogged by inflation, supply chain constraints, labor and transportation challenges, prompting the maker of Jif peanut butter and Café Bustelo coffee to lower its earnings and revenue outlook for the year at the close of its...

Soup-To-Nuts podcast: Mondelēz reveals pandemic’s long-term impact on snacking trends

21-Feb-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Nearly nine in ten consumers snack daily, but according to new research from Mondelēz International, what they reach for and when has evolved significantly during the pandemic – requiring brands to rethink their product offerings, marketing strategies...

PepsiCo Foods SVP talks growth in snacks portfolio: 'We're seeing continued rapid acceleration in multipacks'

17-Feb-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

"Always everywhere," has been Frito-Lay North America's mantra for ensuring that its snack portfolio of legacy brands (Lays, Cheetos, and Doritos) and expanding better-for-you set (Baked, PopCorners, and Off The Eaten Path) is accessible...

Sometimes you feel like a nut: almonds in the mood food movement

07-Feb-2022 By Asia Sherman

Mental functions are a key driver of innovation for products with almond ingredients, says a recent report from the Almond Board of California.

Whisps taps Applegate president as new CEO to unleash next wave of growth

31-Jan-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Fast-growing cheese snacks brand Whisps appoints John Ghingo, former president at Applegate, as its new CEO to lead the brand's next chapter of growth and tap into consumers' growing appetite for cheese snacks.

Utz adds two direct store delivery distributors to its growing shopping list as it builds national presence

24-Jan-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

With today’s acquisition of two direct store delivery distributors in New York City and Long Island, chip and snack manufacturer Utz continues the shopping spree it began after going public in mid-2020 as it pursues its ambitious mission to be available...

Hain Celestial seeks acquisitions to become a ‘bigger fish’ in snacks, dairy & meat alternatives

11-Jan-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

With the acquisitions late last month of snack brands ParmCrisps and Thinsters, the Hain Celestial Group is just getting started on a shopping spree that CEO Mark Schiller says will transform the company from a “holding company” with a far-reaching and...

Campbell Soup Co. seeks larger slice of $151b US snack category with innovation, C-store distribution

15-Dec-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

With the $151 billion US snack business projected to grow 3% to 4% in the next 12 months, Campbell Soup Co. is adopting an aggressive multi-prong strategy to increase its share while simultaneously increasing and sustaining its margins by double digits.

Grupo Bimbo leads Series A funding in superfood snack brand LiveKuna: 'We're doubling down on the North American market'

06-Dec-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Grupo Bimbo, owner of well-known bakery brands including Sara Lee and Thomas English Muffins, is leading a Series A funding round for Ecuador-based LiveKuna, an emerging brand of superfood snacks, cereals, pastas, and alternative baking flours.

Bobo’s gears up to open ‘mega-bakery’ in summer 2022, forecasts 40%+ growth for 2021

10-Nov-2021 By Elaine Watson

Bobo’s is embarking on a major capacity expansion to meet demand for its baked oat bars, bites, and toaster pastries, with a new ‘mega-bakery’ facility set to open in summer 2022 in Loveland, Colorado, that will consolidate manufacturing and warehousing...

Introducing the 4th Food For Kids Summit: How are new guidelines, emerging research and evolving trends reshaping children’s diets and the marketplace?

20-Oct-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

Beginning at conception and continuing through first bites to afterschool snacks and beyond, nutrition plays a pivotal role in children’s brain development, emotional lives, and long-term health – but all too often they aren’t getting all the nutrients...

Study: Is ultra-processed food taking over the US diet?

18-Oct-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

'Ultra-processed' food comprises the majority of the average US adult diet, according to a new study by researchers at NYU School of Global Public Health, who suspect the pandemic has further fueled the trend.

The Good Crisp Company launches cheese balls snacks for immune support: 'Immunity is a constant pain point for families'

16-Jul-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

The Good Crisp Company is eyeing up the growing market opportunity for snacks with immune support benefits with the recent launch of its better-for-you cheese balls featuring Kerry's Wellmune ingredient.

Investing in the Future of Food: SnackMagic's Snack Drop offers inexpensive sampling, data analytics to help emerging brands test innovations, understand consumers

30-Jun-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

For a fraction of the price and hassle of in-person sampling or focus groups, the new product discovery and data analytics platform Snack Drop allows emerging brands to offer goods directly to consumers in exchange for honest feedback and detailed information...

Virtual Natural Products Expo West

Consumers weigh vegan & specialty diet attributes differently based on category, SPINS data shows

01-Jun-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

With nearly one in five Americans now following some type of specialty diet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the extent to which products appeal to different food tribes can heavily influence sales – but not all diets are...

Botanicals and snacks: In conversation with TeaSquares founder

29-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Use of botanical ingredients in the beverage category has taken off, with floral-infused sparkling waters, to bottled water with ashwagandha, and yerba mate energy drinks, while the market for botanicals in snacks and packaged food represents a smaller,...

PepsiCo Q1 sales clear last year’s pandemic-inspired surge with innovations in snacks, energy drinks

15-Apr-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

PepsiCo sales during the first three months of the year sailed passed the high bar set last year when the pandemic inspired pantry loading, despite challenges during the quarter, including temporary business disruptions due to the severe winter storms...

New CEO: “HIPPEAS has all the tenets to become a household name and a true lifestyle brand”

15-Apr-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

With this week’s appointment of industry veteran Paul Nardone as the new CEO of HIPPEAS, the organic chickpea snack brand is building an all-star executive team with a strong track record of high-profile exits to help it leverage pandemic-inspired shifts...

Holy Cow’s beef rinds upcycle cattle hides for a nutrient-dense, sustainable & economically stimulating snack

30-Mar-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

When the founders of startup Holy Cow discovered thousands of cow hides are thrown away daily due to rising demand for beef during the pandemic and a simultaneous sharp decline in leather production, they saw an opportunity to create a new revenue source...

Fish skins anyone? Goodfish crispy salmon skin snacks gain consumer traction

18-Feb-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Founders of Harmless Harvest, Justin Guilbert and Douglas Riboud, are aiming to take the success and consumer demand they built for sustainable and ethically-produced coconut water, and apply it to the salty snacks category with a brand of upcycled, crispy...

New products buoy Post’s US cereal business despite COVID-19 related supply, production constraints

08-Feb-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

Pandemic-fueled demand for nostalgic, convenient foods combined with innovative, cross-category launches help fuel a “strong quarter” for Post Consumer Brands’ US cereal business, despite supply constraints related to COVID-19 absenteeism at a production...

Startup SNACK Brand strives to woo consumers back to spirulina with new clusters, powder

04-Feb-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

Despite spirulina's “superfood” status, its popularity has been dampened by its dark green color, reputation for tasting like the sea and sometimes overwhelming bioavailability, but the co-founders of SNACK Brand Inc. hope to introduce to modern...

Post Holdings leads $12.5m Series B round at PeaTos: ‘We believe it has a bright future’

01-Feb-2021 By Elaine Watson

Post Holdings – which has just taken a minority stake in plant-based meat startup Hungry Planet - has led a $12.5m Series B round at legume-fueled snack brand PeaTos, which offers a higher protein, higher fiber slant on mainstream extruded snack brands...

SimplyProtein CEO: ‘We’re aspiring to be a $100m brand in the next five years’

28-Jan-2021 By Elaine Watson

SimplyProtein – a snacking brand acquired from The Simply Good Foods Company by Toronto-based Wellness Natural last September – is generating double digit growth in the US market and has the potential to grow from a $20m to a $100m brand within five years,...

Super Bowl snacking trends: Frito Lay projects 21% increase in snacking

27-Jan-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

While always an important feature of Super Bowl viewing, Frito Lay's latest U.S. Snack Index poll estimates a 21% increase in snacking among consumers compared to last year's Super Bowl LIV game.

HIPPEAS raises $50m: 'We have grown from a disruptive start-up to a true challenger brand'

26-Jan-2021 By Elaine Watson

Chickpea-fueled snack brand HIPPEAS has raised $50m from investment house The Craftory Limited in a financing round consisting of direct investment and secondary purchases of shares from existing shareholders including CAVU Venture Partners.

Rip Van rides e-commerce wave: 'We’re one of the fastest-growing brands on Amazon within grocery'

16-Nov-2020 By Elaine Watson

Rip Van Winkle* slept for 20 years and woke up to find the world had completely changed. The founders of Rip Van came up with a snack while studying at Brown University in 2010 (inspired by Washington Irving’s famous fictional slumberer), worked like...

Frito-Lay survey: 300% surge in online holiday food shopping with snacks at the top of grocery lists

16-Nov-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

With the holidays approaching, half of US shoppers surveyed by Frito-Lay said they will be shopping for their holiday groceries online this year (up from 15% in 2019) with snacks being a top item for 77% of surveyed consumers.

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Mondelēz finds snacking offers a ‘lifeline,’ antidote to loneliness during COVID

16-Nov-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

While snacking was on the rise long before the coronavirus outbreak, new research from Mondelēz International shows the pandemic has turbo-charged the trend – spurring more people to snack more often, but for entirely different reasons than they did before...

Velocity Snack Brands unveils new innovations under the popchips brand

26-Oct-2020 By Elaine Watson

Velocity Snack Brands (VSB) – a portfolio company of VMG Partners set up in October 2019 to buy, incubate and grow snack brands – has launched two new innovations under the popchips brand it believes could have broad mainstream appeal.

PepsiCo pursues ‘Faster, Stronger, & Better’ framework to build on better-than-expected Q3

01-Oct-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

PepsiCo reinforces its commitment to its three-pronged “Faster, Stronger, and Better” strategic framework Oct. 1 as it comes off a better than expected third-quarter in which its beverage business rebounded and pandemic-fueled demand for snacks and packaged...

‘We’re putting our account on pause, because no one’s in the office…’ NatureBox CEO on pivoting in a pandemic and ‘work-from-home snacks’

31-Aug-2020 By Elaine Watson

NatureBox – a VC-backed startup that burst onto the scene in 2012 as the Trader Joe’s of online snacking with curated subscription boxes – has evolved its business model over the years, making a move into bricks & mortar retail, and getting heavily...

‘Hey Chester, we did it better…’ PeaTos closes financing round, launches ‘intentionally provocative’ new campaign

19-Aug-2020 By Elaine Watson

Pea-fueled snack brand PeaTos – which has already had one run-in with Frito-Lay's lawyers over its branding strategy – is taking on Chester the Cheetah once again with a series of “intentionally provocative” billboards and digital ads.

Conagra Brands posts 90% surge in e-commerce sales in Q4

30-Jun-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

E-commerce sales at Conagra Brands surged by 89.7% in the year ending May 31 compared to same time last year, as more consumers opted for the convenience (and perceived safety) of click-and-collect and at-home grocery delivery services.

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?

PeaTos launches DTC website: 'The fight for snack share just headed online'

20-May-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused brands to look at their direct-to-consumer (DTC) businesses with fresh eyes, including emerging brand PeaTos, which launched its own DTC site, BetterSnacks.com, to fulfill Americans' at-home snacking needs and desire...

WATCH: Navigating the COVID-19 rollercoaster with Undercover Snacks

14-May-2020 By Elaine Watson

The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster ride for many small businesses. FoodNavigator-USA caught up with Diana Levy, founder and CEO at Undercover Snacks, which makes chocolate covered quinoa snacks at its own SQF-3 manufacturing facility in New...

PepsiCo launches two direct-to-consumer websites for snacks and beverages to meet demand for at-home eating

11-May-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

As at-home food consumption remains at elevated levels, PepsiCo has launched two direct-to-consumer websites – PantryShop.com and Snacks.com – to meet the shift in demand where shoppers can order PepsiCo and Frito Lay products directly from the company.

Mondelēz to cut SKUs and 'significantly' reduce innovation projects: ‘We are working on making our business simpler’

30-Apr-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Driven by strong demand for its snacks products in North America, Mondelēz International reported 2.6% growth in net revenue to $6.7bn for Q1 2020, offsetting sales downturns in other areas of the business including world travel retail and away-from-home...

Nutritional snacking will survive during and after a crisis, predicts Simply Good Foods

08-Apr-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Simply Good Foods – parent company to Quest Nutrition and Atkins Nutritionals – entered FY2020 feeling confident about its performance of its core brands exceeding sales expectations through the first half of the year.

FOOD FOR KIDS: Mikey’s allergen-friendly pockets balance children’s nutritional, emotional needs

06-Apr-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

The challenges of feeding healthy food to children who are notoriously picky eaters often are compounded when an allergy is added into the mix – which is why when the founder of the gluten-free baked goods brand Mikey’s introduced a line of stuffed pockets...

To survive this crisis, prioritize relationships and employee health & safety, says CEO of That's How We Roll

03-Apr-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

CEO of snacking company That's How We Roll, the parent company to national brands ParmCrisps and Thinsters cookie thins, feels cautiously optimistic about how the CPG industry will fare during and post COVID-19.

Despite coronavirus, Peeled Snacks predicts fast growth with new products, channel expansion, funds

27-Mar-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

The CEO of the organic dried fruit brand Peeled Snacks is optimistic that challenges related to the coronavirus will not slow the company’s fast growth thanks in part to a suite of new products, channel diversification plans, and an infusion of funds...

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.

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Strategies from 34 Degrees CEO on succeeding in snacking over the long haul

28-Feb-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

According to the NPD Group’s Future of Snacking report, Americans ate more than 386 billion snacks last year, and IRI reports the category brought in a whopping $89 billion dollars by the end of 2017 with an addition $16 billion in sales predicted over...

WATCH Beanfields CEO: ‘‘There’s a lot of crunch, a lot of noise, then big bold flavor as you bite through’

28-Feb-2020 By Elaine Watson

With the term ‘bean chips’ now dropped from its logo, the Beanfields brand could expand into multiple areas of the snacks aisle – and even beyond – says CEO Arnulfo Ventura, who caught up with FoodNavigator-USA at last month’s Winter Fancy Food Show....

Bokksu poised for exponential growth as consumer demand for snacks, Japanese culture booms

20-Feb-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

After growing steadily for the past four years, despite “living month to month” due to restrictions related to bootstrapping a business, the Japanese snack subscription service and ecommerce platform Bokksu is ready to go to the next level with a seven-figure...

Dang Foods rebrands as ‘Asian-American’ snack brand, posts 54% surge in revenues in 2019

18-Feb-2020 By Elaine Watson

Dang Foods – the snack brand behind the #1 selling nutrition bar in Whole Foods in 2019 – has unveiled new packaging, a new logo and marketing initiatives positioning itself as an ‘Asian-American snack brand.’