Back in the day, when a mum packed a fruit snack for her child's lunch it was just that: an apple, or maybe an orange.
Thankfully, today's little darlings can be spared the toil of peeling fruit as a glut of NPD is continuing to make snacking ever-more interesting and convenient. And it is hardly surprising there is so much activity as, according to Kantar, 58% of lunchboxes contain fruit making it a huge potential market for new products.
In April, Innocent relaunched its crushed fruit Squeezies for Kids as Fruit Tubes to clarify what the products are. "We are at the tip of the iceberg," says marketing manager Amy Shah. "There is a huge opportunity to give parents easier or tastier ways to offer fruit."
Other innovations include the launch of Whitworths' fruit snacking brand Frootz in May, and the unveiling of the Ella's Kitchen Pack'o'Snacks range of organic dried fruit. Last summer, former Innocent Drinks director Giles Brook created the Bear brand of healthy snacks.
"It is an area that will continue to grow," he says, adding that his company's turnover is 55% ahead of plan. Bear is to extend its range of Yo-Yo fruit rolls, with a blueberry variant launching in September to sit alongside its strawberry, peach and raspberry flavours.
Another range enjoying success with above-average repeat rates according to brand manager Morgane Gaubier, is Planet Lunch, launched by PepsiCo last August.
"We will soon be launching Planet Lunch in the singles format for our bestselling SKUs such as Squeezable Fruit, Fruit & Oat Bites and Bread Bites," she says. "We are also working to make it more widely available."
Fruit snacks are also contributing to the growth of the overall ambient desserts market, which has risen 7% by value to £84.3m [IRI 52w/e 15 May]. "The category is growing ahead of chilled desserts as they become a credible alternative," says Harvey Aaron, sales director, northern Europe, at Dole Packaged Foods.
Focus On Lunchbox
Thankfully, today's little darlings can be spared the toil of peeling fruit as a glut of NPD is continuing to make snacking ever-more interesting and convenient. And it is hardly surprising there is so much activity as, according to Kantar, 58% of lunchboxes contain fruit making it a huge potential market for new products.
In April, Innocent relaunched its crushed fruit Squeezies for Kids as Fruit Tubes to clarify what the products are. "We are at the tip of the iceberg," says marketing manager Amy Shah. "There is a huge opportunity to give parents easier or tastier ways to offer fruit."
Other innovations include the launch of Whitworths' fruit snacking brand Frootz in May, and the unveiling of the Ella's Kitchen Pack'o'Snacks range of organic dried fruit. Last summer, former Innocent Drinks director Giles Brook created the Bear brand of healthy snacks.
"It is an area that will continue to grow," he says, adding that his company's turnover is 55% ahead of plan. Bear is to extend its range of Yo-Yo fruit rolls, with a blueberry variant launching in September to sit alongside its strawberry, peach and raspberry flavours.
Another range enjoying success with above-average repeat rates according to brand manager Morgane Gaubier, is Planet Lunch, launched by PepsiCo last August.
"We will soon be launching Planet Lunch in the singles format for our bestselling SKUs such as Squeezable Fruit, Fruit & Oat Bites and Bread Bites," she says. "We are also working to make it more widely available."
Fruit snacks are also contributing to the growth of the overall ambient desserts market, which has risen 7% by value to £84.3m [IRI 52w/e 15 May]. "The category is growing ahead of chilled desserts as they become a credible alternative," says Harvey Aaron, sales director, northern Europe, at Dole Packaged Foods.
Focus On Lunchbox
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