Dive Brief:

• Incredible Foods is launching new refrigerated fruit bites under its allergy-friendly Perfectly Free brand in April, according to Food Navigator. The fruit snacks are shaped like grapes, with a smooth and shiny skin, are 100% plant-based, and are made from fruit and vegetable purees held together with fibers. 

• The product will initially be available in the produce sections of more than 500 stores in the New England area, and is aimed at parents looking for a low-sugar alternative to fruit gummies and fruit roll-ups on the market. 

• This rollout reflects a trend of consumers increasingly shopping the perimeter of the supermarket. According to Mintel, the perimeter category in the U.S. generated $315 billion in sales in 2014. They are expected to hit more than $345 billion by 2019.

Dive Insight:

With packaged food sales struggling against growing demand for fresh food, some snack brands are taking an “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach by formulating with healthier ingredients and jumping into the “packaged fresh” space. 

As consumers increasingly abandon center aisles in favor of the perimeter, brands would be wise to expand into this space. In addition, as the snack category continues to grow and diversify, brands have a better chance of survival if they’re conveniently located on consumers’ shopping routes.

Perfectly Free is the latest company to adopt this strategy with its new refrigerated fruit bites. Though the bites do not debut until April, the product is leveraging a number of trends to resonate with consumers: they’re kid-friendly, low in sugar, allergen-free, 100% plant-based, snackable and — thanks to its re-sealable packaging — convenient. Though refrigerated, the snacks will last outside for up to two days.

And while the product seems to be a bit of a novelty, the brand has proven it has the experience to make frozen, better-for-you snacks work. Since the 2016 launch, Perfectly Free's non-dairy frozen bites have expanded to about 4,000 grocers stores and are ranked "No.1 or No. 2 in the non-dairy category," CEO Kevin Murphy told Food Navigator. 

PepsiCo’s Naked Brand is also taking full advantage of this trend by jumping into the packaged fresh category with a new line of refrigerated snack bars. Becca Kerr, a senior vice president at PepsiCo, told Fortune the company made this move because in the eyes of the consumer, "refrigerated equals freshness."

In the long term, investments like PepsiCp or Perfectly Free could vault manufacturers ahead of their competition. Consumer enthusiasm for fresh, healthier options is not going away — Mintel found that 63% of millennial parents avoid the processed food aisle.

Sally Lyons Wyatt, an executive vice president at IRI, told Food Dive the perimeter of the grocery store is the least likely to see a negative impact from the rise of online shopping. Wyatt added that we’re in the early stages of this “perimeter preference” trend and that “the time is now to build on a good foundation for growth.”

As with any ground-level trend, challenges remain for brands that want to enter this space. Perfectly Free, for instance, uses a proprietary process and designs its own equipment, which could slow or hinder efforts to expand. There is also a need to raise awareness — shoppers do not intuitively shop the refrigerated section for casual snacking products like fruit chews or bars. Educational campaigns will be necessary, and perhaps costly.

The company might benefit from a deeper-pocketed partner, but anyone interested might wait until the Perfectly Free product is more established before jumping in.