In recent years, the fruit snacks category has been accused of selling candy under the misleading guise of fruit and vegetables, making it a segment that is ripe for healthy innovation, which the creators of Veggie Go’s are excited to bring with the launch of their new Bites, says Michael Silverman, the managing director of the Samantha Brands Group, which invests in the company.
“The fruit snacks category needs healthy innovation and Veggie Go’s is bringing it,” with its new line of chewy bites that offer a full serving of fruits and vegetables in each unit but without the fillers, artificial sweeteners, corn syrup and other ingredients that parents don’t want to feed their kids but which are staples in many competing fruit snacks, Silverman explained to FoodNavigator-USA.
Instead, he says, in Veggie Go’s Bites “you are always going to see really clean, real food ingredients in our labels and a serving of fruits and veggies in every unit that will really reinvent the way people think about fruit snacks.”
In addition, the Bites are set apart from the competition because they also have “crunchy inclusions,” including chia seeds and rice crisps that offer a “really fun mouth feel,” Silverman said.
The crunchy inclusions also set the Bites apart from Veggie Go’s other products – Strips and Odds & Ends. All three products offer many of the same benefits in terms of health and nutrition, but the Strips have a slightly different consistency and the Bites are easier to share. The Odds & Ends also will appeal to consumers who are concerned about reducing food waste as they repurpose the perfectly edible bits that are trimmed off the strips.
A new look to complement the new Bites
At the same time Veggie Go’s launched the Bites in July, it also rolled out a new look for its packaging and a completely retooled website, Silverman said.
“The older packaging blended in more with what was on the shelf, and with the new packaging we really wanted to jump off the shelf and convey the great product benefits that the brand has to offer,” Silverman said.
It does this with playful line drawings of fruits and vegetables on a bright white background. The main ingredients also are listed in large, bold front on the front the package along with the call-out that each package contains one serving of fruits and veggies.
Each package also has a window to showcase the finished product inside, which Silverman said was important to the company founders because they wanted to convey to consumers that “these are real food fruit snacks, and are not constructed in a laboratory.”
The outer packaging also highlights that the Bites are certified USDA organic – a call-out many young parents seek.
The new product launch and rebranding are just the start of the company’s master plan to become a healthy snacking company for the whole family, Silverman said. And while he couldn’t share many details about new product launches coming down the pipeline, he assured that there is “lots of exciting innovation going on across all of the healthy, portable snacking space” to come from the brand.