As consumer demand for fresh & healthy snacks continues to grow, some trail-blazing refrigerated products have recently emerged. Consumers associate fresh refrigerated products as being healthier than their shelf stable snack counterparts that tend to be high in sodium, preservatives and other undesired ingredients.
The best brands understand that the key to their success is to not only grow their own brand and sales, but to grow the category as a whole. We prefer not to use the word trend, as it suggests these will come and go, we believe that refrigerated snacking is here to stay.
This emerging category creates a great opportunity for grocery retailers to define new spaces within their stores to boost sales of these types of products.
We recently had the pleasure of doing a Q&A with Stephanie Haughey, Whole Team Body Member at Whole Foods.
Here are some of her thoughts on the category:
Q Is refrigerated snacking a trend or a category that is here to stay and grow?
A “Yes, it’s a category that is here to stay and grow. Everybody enjoys fresh. The future is fresh.”
Q What makes refrigerated snacks better or different than foods traditionally associated with snacking?
A “A perceived better for you quality, including freshness, taste & texture. For example, less/lacking in preservatives & stabilizers since it requires refrigeration to keep it fresh or from spoiling.”
Q What are some of your favorite refrigerated snacks to have emerged in recent years and why?
A “The why: ingredients (a very short ingredient list, no natural flavors used nor preservatives), flavor, texture and founders’ vision & ethos.
Some shout-outs to Mid-Day Squares Bars (Almond Crunch), Sprouted Minds Super Food Bars (all flavors – coming/launching soon), Rowe of Venice Sol Bread, The Coconut Cult (Chocolate Mousse, Matcha & Strawberry probiotic Coconut Yogurt), Gt’s Living Foods Pure CoCoYo Cocunut Yogurt, Sol-ti all SuperAdes & SuperShots, Genius Juice – The Original Organic Coconut Smoothie, MUSH Overnight Oats (Dark Chocolate), REBBL Reishi Chocolate Immunity Elixir, Drink Nitro Cold Brew Coffee (all flavors), RISE Brewing Co Original Black Nitro Cold Brew Coffee & Oat Milk Latte, Three Trees Foods Nut & Seed Milks (all flavors except the Pistachio Nutmilk), Gt’s Synergy Kombuchas, MALK Organic Oat Milk, Erewhon Market, Erewhon Kitchen RAW Cinnamon Roll & RAW Pizza, Urban Remedy Raw Cacao Mousse, OLIPOP Vintage Cola & Orange Squeeze, Humble Maker Coffee Co. Cold Brew Coffee Shots, Bhoomi Cane Water, Medidate Roasted Date Seed Elixir (Original & Cardamon flavors), Happy Moose Juice, Better Booch Ginger Boost Kombucha and Teranga Life Baobab Juices and Elixirs.”
Q What would you recommend to retailers to help grow the category?
A “Be more open to taking a chance with lesser-known CPG brands and or being open to connecting with them. Respond/acknowledge emails.”
Q Retailers have limited refrigerated space, what would you recommend to up and coming brands to help carve their way into the marketplace?
A “Never be out of stock, focus on building relationships with buyers, be laser focused on having stores in your own back yard making room for your brand and then gaining traction, and make sure your product tastes great.”
A big thank you from Stephanie for her insight!
As retailers look to create more space for these popular products, we would like to introduce our new SIERRA-LP Series. Our new family of high visibility grab and go coolers made right here in North America are Available in 3 different sizes. These open-air refrigerated displays make your products pop with minimal framing and individually lit shelves. Our signature “edge-lit” header displays are perfect for drawing in consumers and delivering your message. Their low-profile design allow you to protect store sight-lines.
A self-contained refrigerated grab and go merchandiser is ideal for placing refrigerated snacks near the check-out or in your high traffic foodservice departments.
Contact MTL COOL to start boosting your visibility and sales today!