More Than A Healthful Snack
To boost sales of store brand nuts, retailers could look to foodservice for ideas that expand consumer usage occasions.
In a "State of the Snack Industry" presentation during Snaxpo 2012, Sally Lyons Wyatt, executive, client strategy and insights for Chicago-based Symphony IRI Group, noted that 87 percent of consumers are trying to eat more healthfully. And nuts most definitely fall into healthful territory.
Moreover, different varieties of nuts boast different types of health benefits. Almonds are rich in vitamin E, for example, while walnuts are an excellent source of the natural-plant omega-3 fatty acids called alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA.
As part of the Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea (PREDIMED) study, which 16 research groups conducted in seven regions of Spain between 2003 and 2011, researchers studied the effects of a Mediterranean diet enriched with a handful (30 grams) of mixed nuts a day on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. According to the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council, the study specifically found that such a diet could reduce the risk of diabetes by 52 percent; reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome by 13.7 percent; reduce blood glucose levels, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the LDL:HDL cholesterol ratio; decrease insulin resistance in non-diabetic individuals; improve biomarkers of inflammation and oxidation on the cardiovascular system; and help reduce waist circumference.
Trends with traction
With more consumers now in the know when it comes to nuts' health benefits — at least in a general sense — health-related positioning is a trend that is expected to continue and keep the category in growth mode.
"The category has been doing well for itself for numerous reasons," says Matthew Hudak, U.S. research analyst for Euromonitor International, Chicago, "namely [because] it can be both a fairly tasty and healthy snacking option."
He points to the Planters NUT-rition line as a good example of health-related positioning, noting that the new Men's Health variety boasts a fairly high protein content.
"Protein content has recently become fairly important to consumers, so this might resonate with them as being the optimal healthy choice when they crave a snack," Hudak says. "At the same time, taste will be important, so that will likely lead to more strong and exotic flavorings from brands such as the aptly named Blue Diamond Bold Almonds."
Trends on the horizon
Much like with the dried fruit category, a trend looms in finding ways to expand consumer usage occasions. And the foodservice sector could provide retailers with an abundance of ideas for doing so.
The MenuMonitor resource from Chicago-based Technomic, which tracks the menus of the top 500 restaurant chains, shows a variety of nuts popping up in new dishes during the third quarter of 2012, says Mary Chapman, director, product innovation for the company.
The resource shows nuts "crusting fish, flavoring coffee, topping salads, on cheese plates, and in desserts, vegetable entrées [and] oatmeal," she notes. "There are some new Thai dishes that include peanuts."
Chapman doesn't see any one nut variety gaining popularity over another in the menu items. But she does see meatless items gaining in appeal — and not strictly for vegetarians.
"So I think there's an opportunity for nuts [in] vegetable dishes, in particular, to add texture and protein."
Retailers could help expand consumer store brand nut usage occasions by providing recipes for restaurant-inspired nut-containing dishes and then cross-merchandising their own nuts with the other recipe ingredients.