As consumers continue to nosh, nibble, munch, crunch and otherwise snack throughout the day, their choices continue to broaden.
Certainly cookies, chips and crackers remain staples, but other types of salty foods are being reinvented — and repackaged — as snacks.
Who knew that canned sardines would be listed as a hot food trend in 2017, as they were by the Sterling-Rice Group a few months ago? Reflecting that trend, Bumble Bee Seafood, San Diego, has launched a “Snack on the Run” product line with a 3.75-oz tin of sardines co-packed with a short sleeve of crackers, paired in outer box weighing in at 4.65 oz.
Other traditional seafood products have likewise been packaged and labeled as snacks. Bumble Bee’s other “Snack on the Run” items include the newly unveiled Cheesy Tuna Melt, Rosemary, Garlic and Sea Salt Tuna Salad, and traditional Tuna Salad. Bumble Bee also introduced a new line of Sensations, combining seasoned tuna with crackers in a 3.6-oz brightly colored stand-up package in varieties like Spicy Thai Chili.
Although consumers have long snacked on olives, it’s more convenient to do so with products like the Olive Snack product from Gaea. Olives are packaged in a re-sealable to-go container and available in flavors such as Pitted Green Olives with Chili and Black Pepper.
Meanwhile jerky has become somewhat of a darling in snacking. Fresno, CA-based Busseto Foods capitalized on the demand for high protein snacks, recently rolling out Salami Snack Cups, a 1.5-oz cup with a peel-off lid that retails in some supermarkets for just $1.
