Krave enters savory bar sector with new meat snacks

By Douglas Yu

- Last updated on GMT

Krave's new meat bars fit the on-the-go snack trend.  Pic: Krave
Krave's new meat bars fit the on-the-go snack trend. Pic: Krave

Related tags Snack foods

Premium meat snack brand, Krave, has brought its first bar line to CVS stores and other retailers across the US, as the company believed there are few savory options existing in the snack bar category.

“The snack bar aisle is heavily shopped… We are confident that the Krave bar will take off,”​ the company told BakeryandSnacks. “Krave bar is in a unique position by existing in both the culinary and wellness sections, while still being a good source of protein.”

The new bar line comes in four flavors, including chipotle cherry beef, cranberry thyme turkey, mango jalapeno pork and wild blueberry beef. Each of the flavors is made without artificial ingredients and contains seven to 10 grams of protein.

Krave bars retail for $2.89 each, according to the company.

Meat snack innovation

Krave said its decision to launch the new products came from a variety of factors, including wanting to expand its meat snack portfolio beyond just jerky.

“We wanted to continue to bring growth and innovation to the meat snacks category by offering new ways to add unexpected excitement and creativity to the space,”​ Krave’s head of marketing, Rusti Porter, said.

“This is shown in the new bars with the combination of dried fruit, quinoa and turkey, beef or pork that provides a harmony between sweet and savory.”

“The advantage of the bar form is that our consumer can grab a sizable snack on-the-go, no matter where their day takes them,”​ she added.

Porter mentioned that Krave’s approach to innovation has always been led with insights based on consumer needs. But, from an R&D perspective, creating a formula that is both healthy and tasty is challenging.

“Balancing ingredients without the use of ‘non-clean’ additives to achieve the nutritional profile while meeting USDA regulations and consumer expectations takes a lot of work,”​ she admitted.

69.13% dollar sales increase

The jerky brand founder, Jon Sebastiani, sold his company to US chocolate giant Hershey last year for an undisclosed amount. He said Hershey could take the brand to “a whole new level,” ​after it had grown triple digits year-on-year.

Krave’s revenues reached $35m in 2014, and that number nearly doubled in 2015 under the new ownership as the company continued to secure new listing and add more SKUs, this site previously reported.

According to IRI data for the latest 52 weeks ending Oct 30, the total dollar sales of Krave, combining US multi-outlet with c-store, posted $59,320,124, a 69.13% increase compared to the same period last year.

In 2017, Krave will also join other meat snack brands in the US, including Jack Links, ConAgra-owned Slim Jim and Chef’s Cut Real Jerky, to launch meat sticks, the BakeryandSnacks correspondent learned at the NACS show​ in Atlanta, Georgia this year.

What are the emerging trends in snacks?

snacking innovation summit graphic2

From sprouted mung beans to Japanese-inspired onigiri, the snacks market is a hotbed of innovation. But what’s next? Hear from Peeled Snacks, Dang Foods, Field Trip Jerky, Protes and board advisor and guru Brad Barnhorn at our Snacking Innovation Summit on Feb 15.

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