Nutrition-Savvy Parents Changing Kids Snack Segment

By Robin Mather

Nearly half of American households are now led by Millennial parents, and those sophisticated parents are changing the way manufacturers create kids snacks.

Mondelez International cites a Packaged Facts survey that says that 46 percent of those parents cite nutritional value as their top priority when they choose snacks for their children. The study says nearly a quarter of those parents buy three new wellness or better-for-you snacks a month, and more than half say their kids prefer better-for-you snacks. The study also noted that other factors, such as convenience, price, packaging, and flexibility to use those snacks for various eating occasions also influence parents’ choices.

What that survey didn’t mention is taste.

“What hasn’t changed over the last decade is that kids snacks need to taste great,” says Pilar Arellano, Marketing Director for Nature’s Bakery in Reno, Nevada. The company is best known for its fig bars, though it also now offers a line of brownies and a line of organic snacks.

“Moms are looking for snacks they can feel good about giving to their kids,” she says. “They want products with high-quality ingredients that they can recognize and understand.”

Today’s hectic lifestyles have contributed to the changes in kids’ snacks as well, Arellano says. “The changes are driven by parents whose kids need the nutrition to grow and stay healthy. We need to understand what’s happening in consumers’ lives so we can find solutions.”

Lauren Jupiter is a founder of AccelFoods, a venture capital company with three funds valued at more than $85 million that invest in packaged foods. Among AccelFood’s clients are Cocomel and Kalahari Biltong.

She says changes in kids snacks are reflected in her own home “My cupboard, as a Millennial mom, looks very different than my cupboard did as a child. The Millennial focus on well-being, and the drive to give their kids better foods than they had has led to an explosion in better-for-you snacking,” she says. “The Millennial customer is also devoting more of her disposable income to food, which includes snacks.”

Those snacks need to be convenient to carry along in purse, backpack or car, says Jupiter. “Snacking is becoming a bigger portion of the day, so convenience and on-the-go portability are becoming much more important,” she says. “Kid-friendly, family-friendly ingredients – a lot of brands have started in response to a gap in the marketplace. People saw a white space in the market and started a company to fill it.”

Consumer Concerns That Didn’t Exist Before

Nancy Kalish of Rule Breaker Snacks in Brooklyn, New York, used to be a health and nutrition journalist, and she says she’s definitely noticed the change in kids snacks. “Ten years ago, I wrote about kids’ health, and I never heard about allergens or better-for-you snacks,” she says. “Now there’s been an explosion in healthier, better-for-you and allergen-friendly snacks for kids.”

Her customers – whom she says often email or call her directly – “go down a laundry list of potential allergens. They’re really digging into our allergen claims.” Kalish says some of the mothers are concerned for their own children, but that many want snacks that can be safely shared with classmates or teammates.

She praises consumers who read labels carefully, and for being vigilant on behalf of their children. Those parents have also “demanded better-quality ingredients – non-GMO is extremely important (to these customers), and gluten-free certification is also important.”

In fact, she says, the wide range of certifications available to manufacturers now didn’t exist a decade ago. “Those certifications are kind of a shorthand that allows consumers to see that a lot of people have vetted this product already, so they can trust it,” Kalish says.

Changes in the Toddler Snack Segment

“In the toddler or baby snack category, there hasn’t been a lot of innovation,” says Saskia Sorrosa, Founder and CEO of Fresh Bellies, a New York, New York, company that makes savory snacks for young children. “Whether it’s puffs or yogurt melts or gummies, the options are relatively the same – but what parents are choosing has changed.”

Unfortunately, Sorrosa says, too many of those snacks have sweet flavor profiles. Fresh Bellies’ freeze-dried fruit and vegetable snacks are crunchy yet airy and easy for children to swallow. Their ingredients are simple – roasted red peppers with sea salt and sunflower oil, beets with thyme, mango with basil, and apple with cardamom. They fit the profile of natural, clean ingredients that Millennial parents demand, she says, “but parents, in general, are demanding completely different products than what they wanted ten years ago.”

The Effect of Social Media

Between blogs, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media sites, everything starts as a trend, says Rule Breaker’s Kalish. “So some part of these changes is that everyone wants to be part of a trend,” she says. “Millennials are very into food in a way that previous generations weren’t. They’re well-educated as a group, and they’re very protective of their children.”