The California-based company said its existing snack lines (fruit trail mix and chips) use dried fruits and tree nuts that never contain low-cost fillers, or artificial colors and flavors.
Made with real fruit
Sunkist TrueFruit clusters, which it developed in partnership with fruit beverage brand Sunkist, are a blend of three premium fruits with no added sugars, priced at $3.99, which is in line with Snack It Forward’s fruit trail mix and chips ranges, according to the company.
The new products will be available at conventional grocery stores in the US in four varieties, including blueberry crunch, pineapple crunch, mango crunch and strawberry crunch.
“Sunkist TrueFruit clusters were developed to bring consumers a snack made from real fruit, as opposed to sugar-laden gummies that dominate the market,” Snack It Forward’s chairman and CEO, Nick Desai, told BakeryandSnacks.
Desai has helped Snack It Forward secure the long-term exclusive license with Sunkist, and has led the strategy and marketing of the company since 2011. He became the fruit snack firm’s CEO in 2013.
Targeting fruit and veggie snackers
Desai said the market has seen a 20% increase in fruit and vegetable snacking as consumers look for healthy ways to replace the nutrition they used to get from the old three-square-meal routine.
“We also know that 82% of Americans want to eat more fruit, but only 13% actually get their recommended dietary allowance,” he added.
“Our competition is the world of empty calorie snacks that offer very little in the way of nutritional value. That includes the $1bn fruit snack market. We have positioned our [cluster] line to be sold in the produce section where we offer the benefit of added category profits.”
Snack It Forward’s current trail mix and fruit chips have around 22% all-commodity volume and is still growing, according to Desai. With the introduction of the new Sunkist fruit clusters, the company hopes to double its current brand footprint in 2017.