Oser Communications Group

7 December 2017 SNACKING NEWS Austin, Texas-based company was at the NACS Show to showcase its new Grab & Go Beet Chips and Kale Chips as well as a Roasted Kale Snack. In January, the company closed a $6 million financing round with a lead investment from 301 INC., the venturing unit of General Mills, and it's currently registering "off-the- charts" growth with its Kale Chips and now its Beet Chips, said Beth Hackford, the company's Natural Food- service Sales Manager. "Peo- ple are looking for healthier snack options," she said. "We've been embraced [by the convenience channel]. All differ- ent sizes of retailers have been coming by." She added that convenience stores are now looking to appeal to customers who read the backs of packages. Those include Millennial shoppers, who are now reach- ing the age at which they have small chil- dren, and consumer packaged goods companies like Rhythm Superfoods are ready and eager to step up to meet the needs of those customers with package sizes that suit their snacking habits at a price point that works for them. For in- stance, Rhythm Superfoods developed its new smaller grab-and-go bag particularly for sale at a friendlier price point. The new grab-and-go sizes retail for $2.49, with the Beet Chips packaged as a 0.6-ounce bag and the Kale Chips packaged with 0.75 ounce in the bag. Convenience stores are seeing traffic from customers who are familiar with the premium brand from their regular grocery stores, and they're just as willing to buy it in a convenience store, said Kelly Botten- field, the company's Senior Sales Man- ager for Retail. Both she and Hackford say that convenience store chains are coming to them asking for products because they recognize the brand and are looking for healthier op- tions that will attract the cus- tomers they want, which definitely includes those Mil- Premium Brands Continued from Page 1 lennials who are stopping in for snacks that they can feel good about giving to their small children. Volpi brought its Roltini, mozzarella cheese and prosciutto rolls either with or without basil and, at 8-ounces, big enough to make a full meal serving or to slice for a party appetizer. Roltini Singles, which are snack-size portions, are offered in Moz- zarella and Spicy Salame, Mozzarella and Pepperoni and Mozzarella and Pro- sciutto varieties pack- aged in 12-count boxes. Aunt Butchie's of Brooklyn was at the show to offer up a taste of New York for the freezer case with its Cheesecake Cones. In Brooklyn, Aunt Butchies is a bakery and restaurant named after the mother of Owner Frank Santo, who said that since his own childhood nickname was "Stinky," which wasn't suitable for a restaurant, he borrowed his mother's family nickname instead. "It's an Italian family. Everybody has a nick- name," he said. Aunt Butchies has been in business for 24 years, starting out as a bak- ery making cheesecakes and carrot cakes before expanding into foodservice. "In the last couple of years, we started thinking about making things no one else was mak- ing," Santo said. The bakery tried out the Cheesecake Cone in its retail store, where it performed well, and is now looking to launch it nationally. The Cheesecake Cone is a unique prod- uct, like a cross between a cannoli, an ice cream cone and a cheesecake. The cone is an made from almonds, butter and sugar, and it's filled with New York-style cheese- cake. It's packaged individually for sale from the freezer case, and it's designed to be eaten frozen. Each 4-ounce cone retails for $2.99 to $3.29. Family-owned Ozery Bakery, which started out as a Toronto, Canada, cafe and pita baker, brought its Morn- ing Rounds ® to the show as well as snack components and crackers. The Muesli Morning Rounds Single-Serve comple- ments the brand's top- selling full-size product line, Morning Rounds, a line of toastable fruit and grain breakfast buns, which includes flavors such as Cranberry Or- ange, Apple Cinnamon, Cinnamon & Raisin and Date & Chia. The new item is conveniently packaged as a single serving and contains five grams of protein per serving with no artificial preservatives or flavors. All Ozery Bakery products are free from genetically modified organisms, artificial preservatives, colors and flavors and are prepared with whole grains. Old Croc, makers of Australian cheddar cheese, is dipping its toes into the conven- ience market with 3/4-ounce packages of its Sharp Cheddar wrapped for individual sale and branded as Croc Bites. Old Croc cheese is grass-fed and non-GMO, and Croc Bites are also packaged in eight- count bags. The single-serving packages retail for 79 to 99 cents. For the cheese case, Old Croc is intro- ducing bold flavored cheddars in 6 to 7- ounce cuts. The company swept the flavored cheese category at the 2017 U.S. Cheese Champi- onships with best of class, second award and third award wins. The new fla- vors include Bacon & Jalapeño, Chipotle & Onion, Horserad- ish and Roasted Gar- lic & Herb. The 7-ounce cuts retail for $5.99. Old Croc is distributed in the U.S. by Trugman-Nash, LLC. Out on the show's main exhibit space, there were a few other familiar names that are very experienced at selling into the convenience channel. Among them, KIND, which is moving into the breakfast space with a couple of product lines, in- cluding Pressed by KIND, which are bars that offer a full serving of fruit in two va- rieties: Dark Chocolate Strawberry and Dark Chocolate Banana. KIND is packag- ing them in 12-bar boxes for retail sale. KIND is also offering KIND Breakfast Protein bars, each of which offers 8 grams of protein in a 210- calorie serving of two bars. The KIND Breakfast Pro- tein bars are offered in Crunchy Peanut Butter, Dark Chocolate Nut, Dark Chocolate Cocoa and Al- mond Butter varieties, and they're packaged as eight two-bar packs. Loacker was exhibiting at the NACS Show for its fourth year, according to Loacker Vice President of Marketing and Deputy to the President Crystal Black- Davis. "We entered the convenience trade channel two years ago, and we entered with a bang in 7-Eleven," she said. Loacker has responded to the market with different formats and package sizes, but the cookies inside are still the same snacks familiar to Fancy Food Show attendees. "To have a brand like Loacker enter into this trade class with a better-for-you indul- gence option means that there's no ques- tion why we're performing as well as we are," Black-Davis said. She agrees that convenience stores are seeing more nutrition-conscious cus- tomers who will buy products made with high-quality ingredients wherever they find them. "If you're going to snack, snack well," summarizes that philosophy, she said. Loacker's 37.5 gram Cocoa & Milk Rasp- berry Yoghurt Wafer packs and 4.4-ounce bags of Quadratini are both doing well in the convenience channel because they're a better-for-you snack option, Black-Davis said. "We don't compro- mise on taste, so the indulgence factor is still very prevalent," she said, pointing to a new 54-gram chocolate bar, the Chocolate Creme Napolitaner, which in- cludes hazelnuts as well as a wafer leaf inside each bar. "We offer a premium snack item, and we don't abandon our company DNA, which is the wafer." n New Products from Red Smith Foods Red Smith Foods, a leading producer of pickled snacks, announced that the com- pany now offers Big John's ® Trotters, in- dividually wrapped pickled pigs feet, and Big John's Pickled Eggs in individually wrapped packages. Red Smith Foods worked with retail- ers to develop its newest product, which is completely shelf-stable and never needs refrigeration. The single serve packages fit in existing Big John's counter racks for easy merchandising and require no clean up. "It used to be that you'd walk up to the convenience store counter and pull out your pickled pigs feet or pickled eggs from a big jar with tongs, which is obviously messy and requires some effort, not to mention being a turn off for some fans," said Director of Sales Brian Burton. "Our new packaging requires no cleanup, is eas- ier for the customer to grab and looks more attractive on the counter, too. It's a win- win." For over 40 years, Red Smith Foods pickled snacks have been a staple item in grocery and convenience stores through- out the Southeast. Products include pick- led eggs, pickled pigs feet, pickled sausage, and pickled red hots sausage and are available in a variety of sizes as large as gallon jars. Since 1973, Red Smith Foods has earned a reputation for producing the finest quality pickled snacks in the indus- try. For 40 years its products have been a staple item in grocers, convenience stores and distribution centers. Family owned and operated for two generations, its focus has and will always be on producing the highest quality product for its customers. Red Smith Foods' state-of-the-art manu- facturing facilities were designed with the highest standards and surpass the required levels of food safety and quality. With a broad offering of products, Red Smith also continues research on new products with one thing in mind – the customer. For retail buyers, contact Brian Bur- ton at bburton@redsmithfoods.com or learn more on www.rangeme.com, where Red Smith Foods is a Verified Brand. Rangeme.com is an online plat- form for buyers who want an efficient way to discover products and manage submissions. n

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