Kraft launches healthy Nabisco snack line
the direction of health and wellness, launching a new line of
wholegrain snack products under its Nabisco brand.
The line is a 100 per cent wholegrain alternative to popular snack products, including Wheat Thins, Chips Ahoy and Fig Newtons.
The wholegrain trend received a boost in January from the US Department of Agriculture's new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommend that adults consume at least three portions of wholegrains per day.
The impact was immediate on national sales of wholegrain products, according to recent figures from market research company AC Nielsen.
These reveal a surge in sales of baked wholegrain goods over the past year, wholegrain cookies topping the list with a 1,364 per cent increase in sales.
Nabisco Wheat Thins claim to be an "excellent source" of wholegrains and carry the heart-health claim, an FDA-approved indication that they contain more than 51 per cent wholegrain ingredients by weight and may therefore help reduce the risk of heart disease.
Along with many food manufacturers, Kraft Foods is increasingly positioning itself as a healthy company, claiming that its health and wellness segment has grown three to four times faster than other segments in the past year.
The company is also making moves to limit products advertised to children to healthy options, recently announcing plans to modify product marketing on its websites aimed at children to include only products that meet its Sensible Solution nutrition standards.
Sensible Solution, a labelling programme aimed at helping consumers choose healthier products, already constitutes the backbone of the company's new advertising policy for children, announced in January this year and due to be implemented by the end of 2006.
"Our health and wellness program is an important business initiative that we believe is critical to the long-term success of Kraft," said the company's chief executive officer Roger Deromedi in a statement.
"We're taking steps that are responsive to social concerns, while at the same time driving our business results by transforming our portfolio to better align with consumer trends," he added.
External links to companies or organisations mentioned in thisstory: Kraft Foods
