Baking&Snack - October 2011 - 32

BAR TRENDS

Snack Bar Dollar and Unit Sales
Dollar sales ($mil) Total snack bars/granola bars category Granola bars Nutritional/intrinsic health value bars Breakfast/cereal/snack bars All other snack/granola bars 52 weeks ending July 10, 2011
SYMPHONYIRI, A CHICAGO-BASED MARKETING FIRM

2,629.1 997.1 919.1 710.3 2.6

Dollar sales % change from year ago 6.2 5.1 13.7 -0.8 4.6

Unit sales (mil) 1,079.5 377.4 424.6 276.4 1.0

Unit sales % change from year ago 4.8 2.8 10.3 -0.2 16.7

Just for Kids
Not only can bars provide a vehicle for adult nutrition, but they also offer plenty of potential to improve children’s diets. Bar producers are actively working on products specifically designed to deliver nutrition to kids. Clif Bar & Co., Emeryville, CA, developed its Clif Kid Zbar Crispy with children’s nutritional needs in mind. Each rice-based bar contains calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin D and 8 g whole grains. They come in kid-pleasing flavors such as chocolate, chocolate chip and peanut butter. Quaker Oats Co., Chicago, IL, uses ingredients children recognize such as pretzels, chocolate and fruit in its Chewy Smashbar line, launched in 2011. The line qualifies for “good source” claims for fiber and calcium and serves only 90 Cal and 6 g sugar. Veronica Bosgraaf, founder, Pure Bars, Newport Beach, CA, began making bars in her kitchen as a healthy snack her children would enjoy. “I started out with my goal being to create a great-tasting product that my kids would think was a treat but still delivered omega-3s, protein, natural sugars and antioxidants through great ingredients,” she said. Pure Bar’s strategy for product development hasn’t strayed far. “When we talk about product creation, the first thing I think about is, ‘Would I put this in my kids’ lunchbox every day?’ ” she said. “If I wouldn’t be happy with them eating this every day, then we need to change this so I would.”

per serving as well as antioxidants, omega-3s and fiber but as little as 9 g natural sugar. This year, Quaker Oats launched the Fiber and Omega-3 product line with 35% of the Daily Value of fiber and claims to be an “excellent” source of omega-3s. Oak State Products, Inc., a contract bakery based in Wenona, IL, recently developed a bar that contains a full serving of fruit to meet the expectation of functional health benefits in bars. Clif Bar launched a protein bar under its Luna brand that not only carries 12 g protein but also 3 g fiber. The Luna Protein bar also cross-markets a gluten-free claim. “Protein and gluten-free options are two popular trends in the healthy snacks category,” said Steven Grossman, vice-president, Clif Bar. “The protein trend is hot for women, and our recent product launch, Luna Protein — now gluten-free across all flavors — has been a huge success.” Clif Bar also revamped its Luna Whole Nutrition Bar for Women to include vitamin D. FLAVOR TAKES ALL. When it comes to food, however, healthy is nice, but taste is king. Despite the movement toward cleaner labels, natural and organic ingredients, and functional health benefits, taste is still the No. 1 criterion for consumers when it comes to buying a food product, according to Mintel data. Developing new flavors can be the easiest way to update a category. Quaker Oats brought an old standby, chocolate, into the 21st cen-

▲ When deciding on new varieties, flavors missing from the market can be a good place to start. Pure Bar saw a need for an organic blueberry style and developed one to fill the void.
PURE BAR

▶ Quaker Oats developed its new Chewy Smashbar line to appeal to children with ingredients such as pretzels, chocolate and fruit while still providing nutritional benefits that parents favor.
QUAKER OATS CO.

tury with real-cocoa products. The Quaker Chewy Cocoa line maintains the Chewy nutrition profile (calcium, fiber, a serving of whole grains and no HFCS) but in four different chocolate flavors: Chocolate Swirl, Chocolatey Caramel, Cookie Dough and Chocolatey Mint. Not only can companies reinvent old favorites like chocolate or peanut butter, but they can also find ways to use flavors no one else offers. Pure Bars saw a need in the organic bar market for both blueberryand cherry-flavored bars and filled the gap with its Wild Blueberry and Cherry Cashew flavors. Ms. Bosgraaf said both varieties have been successful, and the company plans to expand the flavors in both its Pure Organic and Pure Naturals lines. With the consumer shift toward healthy eating, bar producers are cooking up new products to reinvigorate the category and take advantage of the product’s better-foryou image. This image makes bars a great vehicle for functional health benefits and natural and organic ingredients. With such a blank canvas for creative flavor possibilities, bar producers hang their hats on innovation as the key for pushing them out of a post-recession slump. ◾

BAKING & SNACK / October 2011

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Baking&Snack - October 2011

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