Oser Communications Group

SNACKING NEWS 4 SNACKING NEWS February 2018 WWW.SNACKINGNEWS.COM PUBLISHER Kimberly Oser SENIOR ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jules Denton jules_d@oser.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann EDITOR Robin Mather ASSOCIATE EDITORS Jeanie Catron Micah Cheek Greg Gonzales JoEllen Lowry Karrie Welborn ART DIRECTOR Yasmine Brown GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jonathan Schieffer CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGERS Sarah Glenn Caitlyn McGrath DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Tara Neal tara_n@oser.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jamie Green subscriptions@oser.com PUBLISHING OFFICE 1877 N. Kolb Road Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.1300 Fax 520.721.6300 SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Snacking News P.O. Box 30520 Tucson, AZ 85751 520.721.1300 OSER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP FOUNDER Lee M. Oser Periodicals postage paid at Tucson, AZ, and additional mailing office. Snacking News is published monthly by Oser Communications Group, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715; 520.721.1300. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material or prices quoted in newspaper. Contributors are responsible for proper release of proprietary classified information. ©2018 by Oser Communications Group. All rights re- served. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher, is expressly pro- hibited. Back issues, when available, cost $7 each within the past 12 months, $12 each prior to the past 12 months. Back orders must be paid in advance either by check or charged to American Express, Visa, or Master Card. Snacking News is distributed without charge in North America to qualified professionals in the retail and distribution channels of the chain drug, convenience, grocery, and specialty foods trade; paid subscriptions cost $65 annually to the U.S. and Canada. All foreign subscriptions cost $150 annually to cover air delivery. All payments must be made in U.S. funds and drawn on a U.S. bank. For subscriber services, including subscription information, call 520.721.1300. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Snacking News, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715. What an exciting year lies ahead for those of us with a passion for snacks! It's thrilling to me to see words like "sustainabil- ity" and "transparency" applied to products for the snacking market. I love that the shoppers driving this trend have made these con- cepts important enough for producers to respond to their wishes. Many producers' new packaging, streamlined and elegantly simple, emphasizes their response to their consumers' desire. In years past, snacking had a bit of a bad name. Snacking in those days usually meant low-nutrition, high-calorie junk food, and nutrition experts advised against too much snacking. But now, with the better-for-you movement gaining mo- mentum, snacks have a new health halo — we may not always sit down to dinner as a family, but the snacks we use to fill in the gaps between meals offer improved nutrition. A plant-powered protein snack or a crisp made from something as previ- ously unfamiliar as taro or cassava pro- vides a nutritional boost that the old snack chips and crackers couldn't pro- vide. When snacks are nutrient-dense, they're easy to market and sell to newly sophisticated consumers. As our understanding of nutrition evolves, we're seeing old products in new lights. Now that fat is no longer demo- nized — even the USDA says that fat isn't a villain, and that cholesterol is no longer emphasized as a danger — favorite old snacks like pork rinds have shifted from the "I shouldn't" to the "Please pass them!" camp. New makers are emphasiz- ing artisanal production of these traditional treats, using skins from locally grown or heritage hogs in their newly upscale prod- ucts. It's delightful, too, to see widespread ac- ceptance of new flavor profiles drawn from cuisines around the world. It feels very democratic to me, this affection for all the peoples of the world and the foods they eat. The sweet-salty profile, often with Asian or Southeast Asian influences, continues to gain power, and the bitter- sour profile is developing new fans. In the world of sweet snacks, consumers have become very plugged in to subjects such as fair trade and sustainability among chocolate producers. They want to know that their indulgences mean improved cir- cumstances for the farmers and processors who make their treats possible. I like this eating-locally-from-far-away idea. It rein- forces the sense that we're all connected, wherever we are in the world. Those same consumers are also open to trying treats sweetened with alternative natural sweeteners such as agave syrup, monkfruit syrup and coconut palm sugar. Some are much sweeter than high-fructose corn syrup, cane or beet sugar, so less is required to achieve the same sweetness that consumers expect. Finally, I am unfailingly impressed with the innovation of snack manufactur- ers, whose new products bring excite- ment to your shelves. Whether they're precooked, portion-controlled snacks on a stick packaged with a cup of dipping sauce, or a beverage container with an energy drink embedded in its walls, ready to just add water, we are seeing smart, fun, interesting ways to bring snacks to consumers. I'm looking forward to a busy year of seeing and reporting on innovations for you. I hope you'll enjoy what I have to share in each issue of Snacking News. n FROM THE EDITOR

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