Healthful Bites

Who doesn’t have a favorite snack? We all have foods we love to munch on during the day, whether at home or on the go. For many of us, though, snacks are playing a more central role in our diets than ever before, with many becoming not just foods to eat between meals, but meals themselves instead.

“Consumers have fundamentally changed how they eat,” says Sally Lyons Wyatt, executive vice president and practice leader for Chicago-based market research firm Information Resources Inc. (IRI). “Consumers are either eating four to five mini meals a day, or grazing throughout the day or eating three meals and snacks.”

Our growing hunger for snacks is reflected in sales for the industry, with snack sales projected to reach $200 billion in 2020, according to “State of the Snack Industry,” a presentation released by IRI this year. Luckily for retailers trying to ramp up sales of store brand dried fruit and nut snacks, trends for the overall industry, including better-for- you and premiumization, fit very well with the categories. Another advantage for dried fruit and nut snack products — particularly store brand ones — is that the opportunities for sales growth are wide open.

“The entire category is not controlled by any strong nationwide brands,” points out Mike Swiatkowski, vice president of sales for Akron, Ohio-based Hickory Harvest Foods, which produces a variety of snack foods such as nuts, dried fruits and vegetables and yogurt pretzels. “Instead, brands tend to be more regional or specific to a small number of products in the category, making a store brand more valuable, highly profitable and very competitive in this category.”

Highlight health

With more busy consumers turning to snacks as meal replacements, they aren’t just somewhat interested in healthier options; many of them are exclusively buying the snacks they can feel good about eating.

“Consumers right now are very much all about their wellness plan,” Wyatt says. “They want to take care of themselves; they want to eat well, exercise and do whatever they can.”

That means retailers need to make sure they are highlighting the health benefits of their store brand dried fruit and nut snacks.

“Consumers are looking for nutrient-dense, protein-rich and high-fiber products that also taste good,” says Aram Karapetian, CEO of Waukegan, Ill-based Woodland Foods, a supplier of a wide range of food ingredients, including both dried fruits and nuts. Any relevant claims about specific nutritional benefits should be clearly labeled on the package, but retailers could also grab health-conscious consumers with “natural” and “organic” messaging. According to Wyatt, snacks with claims about natural ingredients did very well in 2014, even for store brands. The Kroger Co.’s Simple Truth line of organic and natural products reached $1.2 billion in sales last year, as reported by the Cincinnati Business Courier, serving as proof of the success organic is having.

“Organic and non-GMO snacks are exploding national trends,” Swiatkowski agrees.

Offer quality

Just as important as nutritional benefits, though, is product quality, particularly for private label. According to Wyatt, IRI data show that premium-tier snacks are the ones seeing the most sales growth. Consumers interested in healthier snacks and premium ingredients want to be able to visually see that quality, and they aren’t going to grab the cheap-looking bag of nuts.

“With the improving economy, consumers are willing to pay a premium for organics and healthy snacks,” says Swiatkowski, noting that the drive for store brand quality should start right from the very beginning, not just at the point where packaging is chosen.

“Retailers should spend time understanding and researching what their customers desire,” he says. “Investing time upfront and partnering with a trusted supplier who can assist in selecting products that have proven to sell [are] well worth the extra time in the long run.”

Consistent product quality also is critical.

“Customers will continue to buy what tastes good and is consistent from package to package,” Swiatkowski says, “and it is important that retailers select a quality supply partner that offers consistent products order after order. Consistent-tasting products will help retailers capture sales and maximize profits in this category.”

Mix it up

While consumers do want health benefits, they also want taste. According to IRI, 59 percent of consumers indulge when snacking. So how could retailers offer dried fruit and nut snacks that provide both health benefits and the flavor shoppers are looking for? One way to is to create store brand products that go beyond the ordinary.

“Retailers should look for items that are considered a ‘twist on the familiar,’ which allows customers the comfort of items they know while letting them explore new flavor concepts,” Karapetian says, pointing to wasabi-flavored black beans or uniquely flavored corn nuts as examples. Retailers often aren’t very “bold” in what they choose to offer customers, and when it comes to the snack category, it could be costing them sales.

“Since snacks are often an impulse buy, treasure hunting should be welcome,” Karapetian says. “Exclusively offering mass-manufactured processed snacks limits buying choices for customers who want alternate healthy, delicious and satisfying items.”

Nuts are particularly versatile in terms of adding flavor, and with many consumers increasingly interested in ethnic foods and flavors, retailers might want to consider giving their store brand nuts some global pizazz. Nuts are “perfect vehicles for signature global flavors such as sriracha, Southeast Asian flavors, curries and other exotic spice blends, exposing people to tastes they normally wouldn’t have access to in their daily lives, which helps liven up an otherwise ordinary snack,” Karapetian notes.

On the dried fruit front, coatings such as chocolate or yogurt are an easy way to sweeten up a healthy snack. Whatever varieties retailers choose to put on the shelf, however, dried fruit and nut snack products hold a lot of potential for store brand growth.

“These two, both by themselves and combined, are a consumer favorite because of all the different positives they bring, and for store brands to play there, as long as they deliver on quality and taste, they will always be able to find a way to be one of the preferred options in the category,” Wyatt says.

Retailers need to make sure they are highlighting the health benefits of their store brand dried fruit and nut snacks.

With many consumers increasingly interested in ethnic foods and flavors, retailers might want to consider giving their store brand nuts some global pizazz.