CASHMERE, Wash. — Crunch Pak, the industry leader in fresh sliced apples, will feature new snack items for children and adults at United Fresh 2012.
For adults, Crunch Pak is featuring a line of low-calorie single-serve produce snack items called Dipperz™. Crunch Pak Dipperz™ is available in four iterations: Sweet or tart apples with caramel dip, sweet apples with chocolate dip and baby peeled carrots with ranch dip. Each DipperZ™ snack item is 80 calories or less. DipperZ™ are shipping to retail customers nationwide now, the average retail price is $0.99 to $1.29, depending on the market.
Dipperz™ is for fresh produce shoppers who are interested in convenience, taste and health, said Tony Freytag, senior vice president of sales and marketing. Dipperz™ were named best new product at the National Convenience Show and are a United Fresh best new fruit product finalist. In February, Dipperz™were served backstage at the 84th Annual Academy Awards and again at the Kids' Choice Awards in March.
At United Fresh, Crunch Pak will debut a new sliced apple product called Flavorz™ that will launch nationwide in August in time for back-to-school. Flavorz™ are apples treated with a natural flavoring that result in another fruit flavor.
The Flavorz™ line was tested with focus groups of kids ages 4-8, who helped narrow the list of potential flavors to peach/mango, grape and strawberry vanilla cream. A video of the focus group will play in the Crunch Pak booth at the United show.
“Kids have very different palates than adults, and kids love these flavors – especially the strawberry vanilla,” Freytag said. “We are excited by the initial response and hope it encourages children to eat more fresh fruit.”
The natural flavoring applied to the apples is applied post-slice during the packaging process and does not change the look or texture of the apple slice. The first encounter a shopper has with Flavorz™ is when the package is opened and the aroma of the flavor inside is released. To capture that experience, Crunch Pak is developing scratch and sniff technology stickers that will be applied to the outside of a clamshell that contains five 2-ounce packages.
While the peach mango Flavorz™ was developed for kids, Freytag said there is a sales opportunity with adults who will enjoy the mango peach flavor in salads with the benefit of apples’ texture.
Crunch Pak is also expanding its FOODLES™ line and will debut the new items at the show. New FOODLES™ feature new labels and a new mix of healthy snack food options including apples with granola and yogurt and carrots with assorted sides.
Crunch Pak’s booth at United Fresh will include all the other items in the company’s family of products including Snackers™ and Crunch Pak carrots, all introduced last year and gaining distribution nationwide.
“Our research and development department is constantly working on new product and package innovation to meet the needs of health conscious consumers of all ages,” Freytag said. “We strive to capture a major consumer trend toward healthful eating by paying special attention to quality and packaging.”
For more information about Crunch Pak, visit www.crunchpak.com.
About Crunch Pak®
Crunch Pak® is the industry leader in fresh sliced apples. Founded in 2000, Crunch Pak® is committed to providing the highest quality organic and conventional sliced apples in the market. Crunch Pak®’s family of brands includes Crunch Pak® with Disney and Crunch Pak® Organics. The primary distribution is via retail channels; annually Crunch Pak creates more than 1 billion apple slices at plants in Cashmere, Wash., and Pennsylvania.
Source: Crunch Pak®
