Dive Brief:
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Beech-Nut has debuted a line of toddler snack products in new packages, according to Food Navigator. The new products — Quinoa Crispies, Fruity Oat Bars, Yogurt Melties and Fruit & Veggie Melties — are designed to be convenient versions of the healthy snacks parents might make at home for their young children.
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The bars are meant to be healthy, clean-label treats that are easy for on-the-go snacking, Patrick Haughton, marketing director at Beech-Nut, told Food Navigator. The melties are freeze-dried snacks in a reclosable pouch that may help soothe the gums of a teething toddler.
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The company, based in Amsterdam, New York, is attempting to update the toddler snack space the same way it did with the baby food segment in 2014 with a line of "100% Natural" products. Like the new snacks lineup, Haughton indicated that the goal with Beech-Nut's "real baby food" focusing on what parents made at home — only making them easier and more convenient for busy families.
Dive Insight:
Beech-Nut is bringing the snacking trend to the younger set with these new products, which echo the healthier items millennials prefer. Now that this large demographic is having children, their snacking habits are likely to be transferred into their parental role as they look for nutritious items with cleaner labels to feed their growing children.
Millennial parents are the biggest buyers of organic products, so it's understandable that they're being as careful as possible with what they feed their own children.
Baby food trends today mirror those for adults: organic, natural, containing no added sugar and artificial colors or preservatives, and added protein. Some companies have even created meal kits for health-conscious parents to more easily make food for babies and young children.
However, the space is crowded and it may be difficult for a new product — even from a well-known company such as Beech-Nut — to stand out. Gerber, Ella's Kitchen, Sprout, Happy Baby, Earth's Best and Campbell's Plum Organics are all jockeying for space in the healthy baby food and toddler food market. And while all of those companies may make similar food and snacks, packaging may be one way to differentiate. Bay Area startup Once Upon a Farm, makes eco-friendly and recyclable pouches for its food, which is preserved through high-pressure processing. Beech-Nut's new snacks don't appear to have any specialized packaging, although it introduced a new canister shape for its cereal snacks.
If the new Beech-Nut toddler snacks prove popular and deliver both convenience and quality to their intended target market, they could jumpstart the category — just as they did four years ago with their simple and natural baby food. According to Haughton, Beech-Nut has enjoyed double-digit growth during the past three years as a result.
Beech-Nut's new toddler foods may stand out by their simplicity and short ingredients lists. However, manufacturers know that products also need to taste good to parents if they're going to feed them to their toddlers. This can be a tall order for any company, but to succeed in the children's food space, it's a necessity.