Emphasize Health Benefits, Versatility
Retailers could grow sales of store brand dried fruit items by playing up their antioxidant benefits and promoting usage occasions that go beyond traditional snacking.
Like its complementary snack nut category, the dried fruit category fared well during and following the recession. In fact, the two segments together posted a 36.1 percent dollar sales gain between 2007 and 2012, according to "Nuts and Fruit — U.S.," a report that global market research firm Mintel published in August.
"The category has likely benefited from the health perceptions associated with it, as well as constant innovation and a strong private label presence," Mintel says.
Trends with traction
Dried fruit certainly meshes well with the ongoing trend related to health and wellness. As Daniel Granderson, an analyst with the Packaged Facts division of Rockville, Md.-based MarketResearch. com, explains, dried fruit is "a potentially easy source of antioxidants." He believes, therefore, that more and more consumers will seek out dried renditions of superfruits such as blueberries, papaya and sea buckthorn — in whole fruit or powder form — for their antioxidant benefits.
"The fact that the very popular cherry has been recently referred to as the 'new antioxidant superfruit makes antioxidant incorporation via dried fruits that much more of an emerging trend," he says.
In addition to the trend toward healthful positioning, dried fruit as a category is riding a premium wave — specifically when it comes to fruit and nut blends, says Miranda Ackerman, marketing director for Mariani Packing Co., Vacaville, Calif.
"Premium fruit and nut blends with further focus on flavor and functionality will be even bigger next year, as consumers continue to want more from their snacks — good for you and taste profiles that are on trend with more flavor-enhanced snack items," she adds.
Trends on the horizon
One of the next big things for retail grocery on the dried fruit side, Ackerman believes, will be products that elevate the convenience level associated with usage occasions.
"This has proven to be a big success in foodservice and other quick-serve food outlets," she says, "with the introduction of dried fruit blends that are sold with oatmeal or breakfast cereals."
She adds that consumers are thinking beyond traditional uses for dried fruit, incorporating them more often into meal occasions that cross all dayparts.
"Retailers need to recognize that there are opportunities in all areas of the store to not only sell more dried fruit, but also drive category growth within cereal, yogurt, salads and other side dishes by creating products that have the enhancement of dried fruit already included," she says. "Be it a mix of dried fruit to add to your morning oatmeal or a couscous product with dried cranberries and seasonings added, the best products will take the work out of creating the pairing and will make consumption easier for the end user."
Retailers also might want to look to foodservice for product development inspiration here. For example, Starbucks features a unique dried fruit topping for its Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal.
Mary Chapman, director, product innovation for Chicago-based Technomic, says her company's MenuMonitor resource — which tracks the menus of the top 500 restaurant chains — uncovered "plenty of new items" containing dried fruit across the third quarter of 2012. The new dried-fruit-containing items range from cookies to chicken salad.
"Think beyond snacking and baking [to] how shoppers are consuming these products, and develop packages and products to complement these needs," Ackerman advises.