California-based food company Saladshots produces a line of salad dressings with low-fat, low- or no-sugar recipes, including gluten-free products.
Healthy options
Founder Adam Ruben told FoodProductionDaily the creative flavors and standout packaging could fight obesity by encouraging consumers to make healthier food choices.
“Saladshots’ novel approach satiates cravings for comfort food in a healthy, practical way, giving credence to our mission of motivating more people to eat healthy," he said.
Standout packaging
According to Rubin, the product stands out in part because of the package. Though flexible, single-serve dressing packets have been on the market for years, none to date have had resealable closures, which give consumers control over the amount of dressing they pour onto their salads.
The foundation of the packaging is a sustainable, shelf-stable pouch (single- or multi-serving), designed to be easy to transport and open. Consumers can choose to open via the twist-off, reclosable top, or tear the pouch wide open in order to dip veggies into the dressing.
Comforting recipes
Ruben cited US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stats, which report more than 60% of US consumers (including children and adults) are overweight, and 85m Americans are considered obese.
Because many consumers bulk up from eating fat- and sugar-laden comfort foods, Saladshots bases many of its flavors on such edibles, such as Mac n’ Cheese (a reduced fat cheesy ranch) and Chocolate Chip (a low fat chocolate cranberry balsamic).
The manufacturer collected its launch funding through crowdsourcing site Kickstarter; it attained its initial target of $25,000 with nearly two weeks to go in the campaign.