Health a factor in single-serve snacks

The back-to-school season brings a focus on single-serve snacks, and healthy snacks become a bigger part of the business every year. A recent report from Mintel revealed that while children are a major influence on the buying of multipack/bulk salty snacks, “given the increased concerns regarding nutrition, manufacturers can appeal to parents with products offering a better-for-you selling proposition.” Christine Brown, a spokeswoman for Natural Snacks said the company, which focuses on all-natural products, sees “a double-digit spike once school starts.”


In a back-to-school circular that devoted five pages to lunch and snack foods, Target featured Crunch Pak’s bagged apple slices, Clif Kid Z Bars and private-label Mandarin orange fruit cups. Whole Foods devoted endcaps to a cross promotion for Honest Kids and Pirate Brands’ Booty and Veggie Booty.


Nut-free snacks may be an area to watch as more elementary schools adopt nut-free policies for some lunch tables.


 The article above is part of the DSN Category Review Series. For the complete Back-To-School Snacks Sell-Through Report, including extensive charts, data and more analysis, click here.