date
acks Get a Healthy Up
Sn
By Jessica Goldbogen Harlan
hatever the diet trend du jour, one thing never
changes: Americans love their snacks. Salty, sweet,
crunchy, chewy… there will always be a place in one's
belly — and on retailers' shelves — for snacks.
"Snack sales are up," said Randy Johnson, vice president of
sales and marketing for the Barrel O' Fun Snack Food Company
division of KLN Family Brands. "We have found that more
people are eating at home or on the run, versus taking time to
go out for a meal." Barrel O'Fun manufacturers salty snacks that
include potato chips, kettle chips, tortilla chips, cheese snacks,
popcorn, pretzels, baked crisps and air-popped items, while its
sister brand, NutHead's Chocolate Factory makes chocolatecovered snacks and Kookamunga Crunch, which is a gourmet
popcorn and nut snack that comes with either a caramel or
buttery glaze coating.
But snack manufacturers today say that the landscape of
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| NOV + DEC 2012 | PROFESSIONAL C ANDY BUYER | CANDYBUYER.COM
this category is changing. Flavors are gett ing bolder, nutrition
labels are gett ing cleaner, and old favorites are gett ing a reboot.
Get Healthy
With healthier eating and more interesting flavors in
demand, Johnson has been addressing these major trends by
reducing the amount of sodium in his company's products and
looking into healthier options like baked or popped potato
crisps. The company's baked crisps and air popped crisps are
gluten free, all-natural and have 0 trans fats.
With Greek Yogurt currently one of the hottest sellers in
the dairy case, one company, Rickland Orchards, has harnessed
its nutritional benefits in bar form. Rickland Orchards' Greek
Yogurt Bars have a clean ingredient list that includes superfruits,
and has high levels of fiber and protein. The bar varieties include
Blueberry Acai, Toasted Coconut and Cranberry Almond,
