Dried fruit, nut, and seed brand Forest Feast has launched a ‘Baked Not Fried’ range of five new nut mixes as it looks to tap into rising demand for nut-based snacks.
Products include ‘Slow Baked Sweet & Salty Fruit & Nuts’ – with twice-baked apple, vanilla and cacao-glazed cashew nuts, roasted pecan nuts, and roasted and salted almonds – as well as nut-only packs, such as American pistachios seasoned with a hint of salt and garlic.
All the nuts are seasoned and oven-baked in small batches at the roasting facility of Kestrel Foods, which owns the brand, in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Product development manager Ann Woods said: “With the launch of Baked Not Fried, we used consumer trends to deliver a unique and premium range of nut mixes that are perfect for healthier on-the-go snacking or sharing occasions.
“The demand for snacks is higher than ever. The crisps, nuts and snacks category is worth £3.53 billion per annum, with predicted growth of 18 per cent to 2021 to reach £4.3bn.
“This growth is being driven largely by the rising popularity of snacking nuts, which is stealing the march on crisps and saw an extra seven per cent rise in sales last year, while crisps sales fell by three per cent.”
The mixes, priced at £1.20 each, are sold in 40g packs, making them well suited to snacking. The Slow Baked Roasted & Salted Mixed Nuts and Slow Baked Sweet & Salty Fruit & Nuts are also available in a sharing size of 175g, retailing at £4.99.
The new range will be supported by “a robust marketing strategy, in addition to eye-catching POS and merchandising solutions”, Forest Feast wrote in a press release.
