Dive Brief:
- Snyder’s-Lance announced a $7.8 million expansion of its Baptista’s Bakery facility, which will include building, machinery and equipment updates, and create 125 new jobs, reports Food Business News.
- Salty and sweet snacks — baked and low in oil — are produced at the Franklin, Wisconsin-based plant.
- Snyder’s-Lance acquired Baptista’s — a maker of baked snack foods and better-for-you snacks — in 2014. Its original facility was built in 1997.
Dive Insight:
Snyder's-Lance is after a larger bite of the snack market. It’s looking to expand its consumer base to include all-important millennials. It may be hoping to take offerings like Archway cookies and make them national brands. More acquisitive growth could also be in the future.
The good news for Snyder’s-Lance is that snacking is on the rise. On average, consumers eat about four to five snack foods a day, according to Datassential's MenuTrends Keynote snacking report. However, the kinds of products driving the trend — healthy and better-for-you foods — aren’t exactly what Snyder’s-Lance is known for.
But baked and better-for-you snacks are what Batista’s Bakery is all about. After Snyder’s-Lance acquired the independent bakery in 2014, Carl E. Lee, Jr., president and CEO at the time, said, “By combining the resources and expertise of Baptista’s with the scale of Snyder’s-Lance, we will accelerate our ability to deliver exciting, on-trend snacks and product innovation while expanding our ‘better-for-you’ products and gaining needed capacity for our growing Snyder’s of Hanover pretzels.”
Still, Snyder’s-Lance faces stiff competition in the category. Salty snacks leader Frito-Lay recently filed a patent for probiotic yogurt chips. Oreo is upping the game in the cookie aisle by introducing personalized products and unique flavor profiles. What’s more, traditional snack makers now must also compete with a host of emerging, health-focused and high-growth categories — among them granola, trail mix, pita chips and protein bars. Even meat snacks are on the rise.
Therefore, it makes a lot of sense that Snyder’s-Lance is pumping an almost $8 million investment to expand and update the Batista’s facility. But the company also needs to start pumping out more innovative, healthy and better-for-you snacks. Last year’s successful acquisition of Diamond Foods and the popular Kettle Brand chips provides a good base from which to grow.