GLOBAL SNACK FOODS MARKET CONTINUES TO GROW
Busy life styles, improvements in packaging, new flavors and increased convenience options, along with a wide variety of new products are expected to grow the global snack food industry to $300 billion by 2015, reports companiesandmarkets.com.
Europe is the largest market, followed by the U.S. and Latin America;however the Asia Pacific region is expected to have the highest growth rate. The study, commissioned by companiesandmarkets.com,found that almost half of consumers eat snacks between meals and slightly less than half of consumers replace a meal with a snack.
A SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY
So…how can we take advantage of this opportunity and what is the best way to go about it?
Perhaps the best way to begin this discussion is to start by pointing out what doesnot work. Simply dropping off or mailing a sample of one of Red Arrows flavors to a snack food producer is a recipe for certain failure. The sample will join the hundreds of other samples that are gathering dust in the product development laboratory.
My colleagues, who are responsible for the domestic U.S. market, along with other professional sales people have developed a strategy based on whether the target customer is a seasoning company that sells a seasoning blend to a snack food manufacturer, or if the target customer is the final snack food processor. Most seasoning companies associate Red Arrow with smoke flavors, but may have new staff that is not familiar with the unique flavor profiles of the different smoke flavors. They are probably not familiar with our new cooking flavors or our new traditionally smoked ingredients. A demonstration of Red Arrow’s flavor capabilities to a seasoning company is quite easy, with the flavors applied into a carrier like mayonnaise, catsup or a seasoning blend. These demonstrations can be done quickly and always generate a lot of interest. The goal of these demosis to inform and reacquaint the seasoning company’s product development staff with the unique flavor capabilities of Red Arrow products. Jeff Rozum can help you with the mixing proportions and formulas. Please send him an email at ith any questions you may have.
Since most snack manufacturers purchase their seasoning blends from a flavor house, a demo to the snack food manufacturer utilizes the pull-marketing strategy discussed in my October 2013 Smoking Ideas newsletter. Remember …“it’s not rocket science”...if I can do it, you can do it. Start by visiting the snack food section of your local supermarket. Choose several popular snack food items that could be enhanced with a Red Arrow flavor. Perhaps you can get a generic seasoning blend from a local seasoning company. Incorporate the Red Arrow flavor into the seasoning blend at 2% by weight of the seasoning blend and apply onto, or into, the chosen manufacturer’s snack food. Organize a demo meeting with the manufacturer’s product development team…remember they are under a lot of pressure to come up with new concepts, and usually welcome fresh ideas.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP!!
I know that putting together a successful demo can be a daunting task, so here is an offer that will hopefully make it easy for you. Red Arrow’s culinary center will prepare various seasoning blends with our featured product and send them to you. All you need to do is go to the local supermarket and choose an unseasoned potato chip, plain rice cake, unseasoned nut or other unseasoned snack. Place the snack in a plastic bag, apply the featured Red Arrow seasoning blend, shake well, and heat for few seconds in a microwave…Voilà!
It is ready to present to the customer. Just ask your Red Arrow sales contact to send you the “6-Pack Seasoning Demo” with instructions.
YOU CAN’T EAT JUST ONE
As I was working on this edition of Smoking Ideas I found myself snacking on a handful of pistachios. I passed up the sweet snacks, candy bars and bakery offerings…it was my attempt to satisfy my desire for a snack with something healthy. Besides that, my trousers are fitting a little tighter than they did a year ago. It seems I am not alone. Because of their antioxidant and health benefits, nuts and dried fruits are some of the biggest ingredient trends in snacks, and smoked nuts represent a fantastic world-wide growth opportunity.
POPULAR RED ARROW PRODUCTS FOR SNACK FOOD APPLICATIONS
CharDex HGF and CharDex MGF
These are Hickory (with other hardwoods) and Mesquite smoke flavors sprayed dried with a potato maltodextrin.
A unique feature of these smoke flavors is they contain all the components of the smoke condensates they
were produced from. The flavor is a full robust smoke taste. Typical application rates are about 0.15% of the final snack food.
CharZyme H and CharZyme M
These are smoke flavors based on Hickory (with other hardwoods) and Mesquite wood applied to a barley malt and then
dried. The drying step gives a toasted smoke note, with a mild sweet smoke taste. Typical application rate is 0.20% of the final
food product.
CharTor H and CharTor M
These are smoke flavor based on Hickory (with other hardwoods) and Mesquite wood applied to torula yeast and then
dried. The drying step gives a toasted smoke note, with a mild meaty smoke aroma and taste. This product is a favorite for the
snack nut industry. Typical application rate is 0.20% of the final food product. Yummy!
Grillin’ GB and Grillin’ GC
These are grill flavors produced from reacted cooking oils and sprayed dried on maltodextrin. Grillin’ GB has a beefy taste with a
hint of salt and smoke. Typical application rates are around 0.5 % in the final food product. Grillin’ GC has a chicken-like taste
with an outdoor grill note. Typical application rates are around 0.5% in the final food product. Remember, when working with
grill flavors: “less is usually more desirable”.
Grillin’ SD-10
Grillin’ SD-10 is a spray dried grill flavor without any other added flavors. Ideal for use in food systems where only a grill note is desired.
SmokEz Oil H SF and SmokEz Oil M SF
These are smoke flavors basedon Hickory (with other hardwoods) and Mesquite woodextractions into sunflower oil. SmokEz Oil
HSF has a mild smoke taste while SmokEz Oil M SF has a more robust ashy taste. Typical application rates are 0.15% in the
final food product. These smoke oils are excellent in fattier food systems or seasoning blends.
RED ARROW PRODUCTS FOR REGIONAL SNACK OFFERINGS
Snacks are often based on regional taste preferences. For example, a potato chip (crisp) in the UK will have a different seasoning blend than a potato chip seasoning blend for Mexico, the Philippines or South Africa. Red Arrow’s new flavors,which we have launched over the past several years, are excellent for targeting these regional differences. Many retailers are looking for snacks that emphasize a particular culinary tradition or flavor from a specific region of the world. If you can introduce one or more of these concept flavors to the manufacturer, you might have a sale! Think Korean Garlic BBQ Chips, or Tuscan Sundried Tomato Corn snacks, or Chipotle seasoned sunflower seeds.
Some of the more popular flavors for these regional concepts are:
- Smoked Spanish Paprika RA09054
- Chipotle Flavor RA07132-OS
- Fire Roasted Flavor 5138
- Bacon Flavor RA07030
- Fried Garlic Fl WONF 6160 –OS
- Prime Rib Beef Fl WONF 6151
- Roast Flavor RA07129
- Smoked Salt RA09037
- Natural Hardwood Smoked Sugar (Item # RA12003)
- Natural Mesquite Smoked Sugar RA (Item #RA12005)
If you are already selling Red Arrow products to the snack industry, you will know its great potential and realize that a successful snack formula is like “money in the bank” on your annual financial report. Hopefully this issue of Smoking Ideas will give you some new ideas and products to present to your customers. If you are not selling Red Arrow products to the snack industry, hopefully you will take up our offer to explore the opportunities to grow your profits in the global snack food market.
Included in this month’s mailing is a collection of market information on the U.S. snack industry, put together by Red Arrow’s domestic marketing staff. I think you might find this detailed data very interesting. My thanks to Jamie Skelton for sharing it with us.
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