Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery - December 2008 - (Page 46)

Snack Food Today Racing to the Finish T his year brought on a plethora of economical challenges in the snack food and wholesale bakery industry, speciﬁcally with increased costs in commodities and fuel. These hurdles, however, didn’t impact new product innovation in many categories. In most of the snack and baked goods groups, the pace of new products introduced through October is already ahead of the total number that was sold in all of 2003 and many categories are on track with 2007’s pace. When it comes to new product activity among snacks, nobody beats the meat category. According to data collected by London-based Mintel International Group Ltd., meat snacks and beef jerky manufacturers rolled out 120 new products in the United States, or more than 16 new products through October than were introduced in all of 2007. Moreover, there have been 54 new products already this year than in all of 2003. Most snack categories still need a yearend ﬂurry of new product activity if they are to beat last year’s totals. The number of new popcorn varieties, for instance, is 13 items behind last year while snack nuts needs an additional 38 products and snack mixes 39 products to catch up to 2007’s new product activity. Some categories, however, may not catch up. Savory salted snacks is behind by 121 new products and snack, cereal and energy bars need to see 153 more product introductions, which may not happen with just two months left in the calendar year. The baked goods groupings exhibited similar ﬁndings, with no speciﬁc segment demonstrating growth. Savory biscuits and crackers is behind by 36 products, while bread products needs to see 39 new products and cakes, pastries and sweet goods must garner another 50 new items to keep with last year’s pace. Sweet biscuits and cookies – a category that has been hampered by sluggish sales over the last few years – is 355 new products behind the 2007 pace. Maybe a ﬂurry of holiday cookies and sweet goods will help these groups close the gap. Various nutrition fads and trends are driving sales for some and hurting others. For example, the bread category has seen a steady introduction of products containing whole grains, ﬁber, Omega 3s and other health-beneﬁt ingredients. The emphasis on nutrition as well as heightened awareness of food allergens may have had an impact on other categories. Some categories such as popcorn may have been affected by shifts in consumption patterns. Popcorn producers report that some segments like ready-to-eat popcorn have seen sales rise because the snack is more convenient than microwaveable popcorn. Consumers don’t have to eat the whole bag of ready-to-eat popcorn, which is coming out in a ﬂurry of new ﬂavors. Stay tuned as the ﬁnal numbers come in with the ringing in of the New Year. SF&WB Total New Products Launched in United States Snacks Date Published 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008* Total Sample Meat Snacks 66 76 61 113 104 120 540 Nuts 112 210 181 237 269 234 1,240 Popcorn 84 108 95 93 111 98 589 Savory & Salty Snacks 419 599 494 746 682 561 3,501 Snack & Cereal Energy Bars 434 616 467 425 510 357 2,809 Total New Products Launched in United States Baked Goods Date Published 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008* Total Sample Bread & Bread Products 284 590 384 425 391 352 2,426 Cakes, Pastries & Sweet Goods 458 580 517 535 608 558 3,256 Savory Biscuits & Crackers 177 244 202 206 238 202 1,269 Snack Biscuits & Cookies 631 833 632 717 866 511 4,190 Source: Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), www.mintel.com *2008 only includes new products tracked as of October 29, 2008 46 Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery - DECEMBER 2008 www.snackandbakery.com http://www.mintel.com http://www.snackandbakery.com

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Snack Food &�Wholesale Bakery - December 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Now, That’s Haute! Bigger ‘n’ Better But Is It Art? New Products Branching Out Engineering Management Fits to a T Racing to the Finish The Final Word

Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery - December 2008

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