Hilo Life falls under PepsiCo’s Hive banner, a business unit established in 2018 to accelerate small, emerging brands with strong consumer potential in high-opportunity segments in North America. Maker Oats and Health Warrior are two of the brands to have benefitted from the ‘open-source’ innovation and incubation model.
Hilo Life joined the team in late 2019 with the low-key roll out of the online-only launch of low-carb cheese and nut snack mixes. Earlier this year, the products began appearing on US retail shelves, such as Sprouts Farmers Market, Woodman’s Markets and Hy-Vee stores.
Missing the small things
According to Amanda Cheung, brand director for Hilo Life, the newest addition to the snack brand was created to answer consumer demand to counteract ‘noshtalgia’.
“[Noshtalgia] is about missing the little things when you’re eating low-carb, from the crinkle of opening a chip bag to the feel of a satisfying crunch and even licking the cheese dust off your fingers,” said Cheung.
She added the snack producer connected directly with consumers who follow a Keto lifestyle to learn what they were missing.
“A top request was a carb-conscious chip that tastes like the snacks they used to love. We also identified almond flour as a very popular ingredient and used that insight to develop something truly unique that delivers on protein content and 3 grams net carbs.
“We recognised a delicious opportunity to innovate and bring our consumers a keto-friendly snack with the flavours and textures they crave.”
The chips come in three variants – Nacho Cheese, Ranch and Spicy Salsa – and contain 3g of net carbs, 9g of protein and 0g of added sugar per serving.