Healthy growth in healthy snacks
In February, Snyder’s-Lance announced the creation of Clearview Foods, a new snack food division with a focus on developing innovative and better-for-you snacking options across its scope of brands.
“It allows us also to continue to invest in innovation, and we’ve actually added resources during Q1 to be very nimble on making sure we’re delivering the best products as quickly as we can,” Mr. Lee said.
The company’s better-for-you products delivered strong growth during the quarter driven by distribution gains and household penetration.
“When we started talking to you late last year about it we were about 25% of our overall sales mix was better-for-you products,” Mr. Lee told analysts. “We committed to expand it, we committed to grow it, and as of today 27% of our portfolio is better-for-you snacking. In addition to that, we mentioned to you a milestone of shooting for 33%, but I hope you see with our approach to the balanced portfolio, as we will continue to grow both.”
Pretzel possibilities
Snyder’s-Lance’s pretzel platform presents unique opportunities for innovation with different textures, flavors and shapes. Recent launches under the Snyder’s of Hanover banner include Pretzel Poppers, which are airy, hollow tubes, and Bow Ties, which are flat and crispy, like a cracker. The lineup also includes mini pretzels, gluten-free pretzel sticks in such flavors as buffalo wing and honey mustard, and Hershey’s milk chocolate coated pretzels.
“The exciting thing about pretzels is we really do see this as a balanced portfolio because what we’re able to do with these baked better-for-you items is much different than what you can do with most categories in the salty snack aisle,” Mr. Lee said. “So we see some ability to continue to expand our franchise and deliver a lot of product news under our Snyder’s of Hanover pretzel capabilities.”
