The Portable Pantry

Indulgence & Health Still Key
Even in this uncertain economic climate, food companies report that artisanal, organic and other premium indulgences – many in smaller sizes and most having a healthy focus – are still in strong demand. “During periods of economic difficulty, there is an increased propensity to eat at home rather than eat out,” says ACE Bakery president and CEO Philip Shaw. “An extension of that is that people will tend to try to create a restaurant-quality meal experience at home, and will often purchase artisan bread as a way of accomplishing this. Most of our breads are an ‘affordable-luxury’ and retail for under $4.”

Weston Ltd. Marketing vice-president Darren Mahaffy sees the in-store bakery as well-positioned to provide these smaller indulgences that are particularly important to older consumers. “New for 2009 are our 200-g Specialty Loaf Breads – a smaller loaf of high-quality, baked in-store bread, just right for two people,” he says. Weston has also added a six-inch Ready Bake Key Lime Silk Pie, and a line of five-inch cakes in popular flavours Black Forest, Fudge, White, Chocolate, German Chocolate and Carrot.

Shaw agrees that while consumers “are more discriminating in their spending” right now, they are generally just as focused on healthy eating as they’ve been over the last few years. ACE’s boosted selection of affordable and healthy premium baked goods includes Whole Grain Pumpkin Seed Oval (one among several recently launched whole grain breads), a Cranberry Raisin Flax Oval, Organic White and Multigrain Bâtards, as well as a premium-brand Artisan Granola.

Other categories are also seeing a continued demand for health-oriented snack products. “The lines are blurring between ‘traditional snacks’ and ‘better for you snacks’ at Frito Lay Canada,” says Morgan, “because we’re making considerable investments to improve the healthfulness of all of our products. In 2004 we removed trans fats from our Lay’s, Doritos and Tostitos products, to name only a few. In the past year we’ve [also] introduced reduced-sodium versions of our most popular products, including Lay’s Lightly Salted, Miss Vickie’s Unsalted, Ruffles Low Sodium and Tostitos Low Sodium.”

In April 2009, Frito Lay Canada will add to its snack offerings with the launch of “True North,” a line of six premium nut and nut-based cracker-type snacks previously launched in the U.S. The company also recently completed the acquisition of Spitz International Inc., Canada’s leading maker of sunflower and pumpkin seed snacks. Morgan says Spitz “truly complements Frito-Lay’s growing portfolio of healthier snack options. Spitz sunflower seeds are available in six varieties – Salted, Seasoned, Dill Pickle, Hot & Spicy, Chili Lime and Smokey BBQ – and Spitz pumpkin seeds are available in three flavours – Salted, Seasoned and Dill Pickle.”