Build A Better-For-You Bar

Consumers want breakfast and snack bars that do more than just satisfy a rumbling tummy.

Chew (or crunch) on this: Gone are the days when consumers ate breakfast and snack bars solely to satisfy hunger pangs. Today, many Americans want to know that the bars they consume are benefitting them in other ways, too.

"Consumers are getting increasingly savvy," says Allison Cienciala, director of business development with Nutri-Nation Functional Foods, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. "They are looking for bars that deliver solid nutritional benefit[s] and great taste — rather than just portion-controlled snacks with empty calories and lackluster flavor."

Nima Fotovat, general manager of Markam, Ontario-based Shandiz Natural Foods, agrees, noting that today's consumers see breakfast and snack bars as "ideal vehicles" for combining wholesome nutrition and portability.

Do remember that many consumers want gluten-free and organic options when purchasing breakfast and snack bars.

Give 'em what they want

In particular, consumers increasingly want "clean label bars, as well as gluten-free and organic options," Fotovat says.

Anthony Flynn, owner of YouBar, Los Angeles, also believes gluten-free and certified organic are attributes critical to many consumers who purchase bars. And he adds a low sugar content to that attribute list.

Cienciala agrees.

"We, for example, are seeing strong interest and strong sales in our low-sugar snack and protein bars, with the diabetic and diet-conscious consumer segment ever growing," she says.

And don't forget about fiber. According to Jonathan Miller, president of Chicago-based Element Bars Inc., people want bars that help them get enough fiber in their diet.

"[The fiber trend] sort of waned for a little bit, but it's definitely on people's radar," he explains.

Moreover, Miller says the market for "raw" bars — unbaked bars exposed to no more than about 104®F during processing — is in growth mode. Higher temperatures kill the enzymes found in a bar's ingredients. Therefore, many consumers seek out raw bars for the same reason they look for probiotic foods and beverages: to aid digestion.

"I feel like half the requests I've gotten at the end of 2011 [and] start of 2012 now [have] been for raw, unbaked bars," Miller notes.

Don't discount the idea of adding "raw" bars to your assortment. A growing number of consumers seek these products out because they contain enzymes that help digestion.

An innovative pack

Requests also have been increasing for boxes of bars — in addition to or instead of requests for individually wrapped bars, Cienciala says.

"Consumers recognize that there is generally some savings when buying by the box, and because these products are a staple items item in many consumers' lifestyles, it only makes sense for them to purchase this way," she points out.

But aside from the big brands rolling out more boxes of products, mainstream brands really aren't doing anything new with their breakfast and snack bar packaging, says Chris Wilkins, vice president and general manager, store brands with Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra Foods.

"In all honesty, every time somebody's tried to get too terribly innovative in the bars camp, it hasn't gone anywhere," he says. "I would say fundamentally, it's about having bars in a box, and we haven't really moved much from that yet."

However, some niche brands are trying new things with their breakfast and snack bar packaging. Flynn says he sees some specialty bar manufacturers developing reclosable packages for multi-serve granola bar bites.

"We're seeing that a lot with the raw food bars — like [Earthling Organics'] Rawnola, where they have a granola bar that's about an ounce, but then they also have an 8-ounce bag that is resealable," he says. "That is becoming more of a trend — where people have a bag of [granola bar bites] … at their house and just take [individual pieces] out."

Miller says his company is developing resealable packaging for its individual multi-serve bars.

"We're working with two companies now that both want a multi-serving bar," he says. "And it's being positioned as a high-end, premium bar with the ability to command a higher price point."

The packaging for each bar has a zipper, which unfortunately makes package development a little complicated, Miller says.

"We have to go back to the film manufacturers and get the zippers put into the film," he explains. "Not a lot of companies do that. And more specifically, you run bars on a horizontal form-fill-seal machine — a horizontal flow wrapper. And horizontal flow wrappers, you traditionally can't use zippers on them — you use zippers on vertical machines. … So there are some technical challenges to sort of overcome."

Do consider offering your store brand multi-serve breakfast and snack bars in reclosable packaging.

Don't limit placement of your own-brand breakfast and snack bars to the shelves housing all of all the other brands. Consider also merchandising the products alongside milk or juice to offer a breakfast solution.

Spread the word

Speaking of overcoming challenges, Miller says one-for-one-type-marketing — which gives something back to the needy for every product purchase — is an excellent way for retailers to grab consumers' interest in store brand breakfast and snack bars. He points to shoe manufacturer TOMS Shoes as an example.

"If you buy a pair of shoes, they give a pair of shoes to a kid in Africa," he says. "The same thing is expanding into other categories now."

Miller adds that a number of name brands already are taking a one-for-one approach to marketing their breakfast and snack bars. In fact, Element Bars manufactures bars for one of those companies. And retailers could follow suit with their own brands.

"The idea is you buy a bar, and they donate money to the World Food Program for a nutrition pack for a kid," he explains. "People are willing to pay [more] if they know part of it is going to charity."

Social media is another excellent way for retailers to market their private brand bars. Flynn says his company holds competitions on Facebook that help spread the word about its products.

"Every week, we have a photo contest where people take a picture of them with their bar, and then people vote on it," he says. "That's been something that's really gotten our customers engaged."

Engage 'em in-store

To engage customers in-store, Fotovat says he has seen many retailers rely on sampling programs.

"[Bars] are easy to sample and easy for a shopper to try," he says. "In this economic environment, consumers can be hesitant to purchase something new that they may not like. Sampling is an effective way to remove this barrier to trial."

Cienciala agrees.

"Product sampling is always a good driver of sales, particularly where a product exceeds the consumer's taste expectations," she says. "One retailer with in-house nutritionists provides samples of their diabetic-friendly bars to those experts, who can then recommend those bars to the appropriate customers. We also see our store brand customers cross-promoting their bars with their diet or nutritional beverages," she says.

And when it comes to in-store merchandising, placement matters. Flynn notes that many supermarkets have an entire "wall of nutrition bars," which makes it difficult for a store brand product to stand out. Therefore, he suggests also placing store brand nutrition bars in the fresh and prepared foods sections.

For example, he says a retailer could place its nutrition bars alongside milk. Even though the bars are shelf-stable, they would be much more noticeable with the milk than they would with all the other nutrition bars.

Look what's new

H-E-B Multi-Fit Bars from San Antonio-based H-E-B are chewy bars with a yogurt-flavored coating. Each bar has 80 calories and is said to be suitable for on-the-go consumers and those looking to manage their weight. Each 7-oz. box contains 10 naturally and artificially flavored bars.

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway Inc.'s all-natural Open Nature Trail Mix Bar consists of nuts, fruit and honey. The kosher-certified product does not contain high-fructose corn syrup, added colors or flavors, preservatives or trans-fat. The single-serving bar retails in a 1.4-oz. pack.

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. relaunched its Active Lifestyle Oats $ Chocolate Chewy Bars with a new formula containing 8g of whole grains per serving. The product — which retails in a newly designed 7-oz. carton containing five bars — is said to support digestive health and be a good source of calcium.

Source: Mintel's Global New Products Database