The $89 billion-dollar snacking industry has been changing, especially with a growing consumer demand for healthier snack items.
Between the rise in the plant-based diet to the increased gravitation toward carb alternatives, increasingly more health-centered snack companies are popping up, as already-existing brands tweak their approach.
Whether it's Annie's Organic Cheddar Bunnies in lieu of Goldfish snacks or MadeGoods' gluten-free crispy squares in place of Rice Krispies Treats, snack companies are reimagining the classics. This is particularly appealing to parents who want to show their children the snack products they grew up with, but they may not want them eating the unhealthy ingredients within those "nostalgic snacks," according to Food Dive.
What Are Snack Companies Doing?
Snack manufacturers are employing several different strategies to achieve the best of both worlds: a better-for-you snack that doesn’t compromise flavor.
For example, PeaTos—a newer gluten-free, non-GMO snack brand that bears a resemblance to Cheetos—uses ingredients intended to cater to parents’ health goals for their children. The puffed snacks are created from a blend of peas, lentils and fava beans, touting the phrase “‘Junk food taste made from peas” on every bag.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Nick Desai, founder of Peatos, said, “We’re owning the junk food element.”
Although there is a gray area between children’s snacks and “regular” snacks, several companies are taking advantage of the opportunity to innovate and have been advertising healthier snacks to the children themselves, which is also represented in the packaging.
Some examples of the push for selling"healthy kids snacks" include PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division launching a non-GMO children’s snack line, which includes fruit-flavored yogurt crisps and cheese stars. Additionally, nutrition bar companies like Kind, RXBAR and Power Brunch Snap Stick have released bars and other snack items geared toward children.
Are These Snacks Really Healthier?
It depends.
Packaged snacks, by definition, are not as healthy as eating natural produce and grains because they go through processing. Additionally, many products that claim to be healthy are, in fact, comprised of unhealthy ingredients. According to a recent study from Vanderbilt University, companies will capitalize on certain packaging tactics by using science- and absence-focused claims about:
Removing negatives (i.e. low sodium);
Adding positives (i.e. high in antioxidants);
Not adding negatives (i.e. no artificial colors); and
Not removing positives (i.e. made with whole grains).
“Healthy junk food” is often treated as a marketing approach, and the products might not always match up to companies' claims. However, every snack product is made differently. Therefore, some are inevitably going to be healthier than others.
While shopping for snacks often requires discretion, as the cultural awareness of healthy eating increases, it appears as though the "better-for-you" snack industry will, as well.
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