Winter Fancy Food Show 2016
Dang Foods targets demand for plant-based snacks with crispy onion chips
The products made their debut at last week’s Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, and will be launching into Whole Foods in more than half the country ahead of a national roll-out in April.
The ‘crispy caramelized’ onion chips will be available in four flavors: Chipotle Garlic, Applewood BBQ, Sea Salt and Salt-N-Pepper.
Plant-based snacking
“Onion chips reflect the trend for vegan, non-GMO, gluten-free, plant-based snacking,” Dang Foods CEO Vincent Kitirattragarn told BakeryAndSnacks. “Onions are one of the oldest super foods with loads of health benefits.”
The business focuses on producing foods for the natural channel, making products in small batches that are difficult for larger snack companies to mass-produce, said Kitirattragarn.
“Around 65% of our market share is in the natural channel,” he added.
New snack categories
The company is looking to expand its existing coconut chip line into new channels such as club stores in 2016, as well as creating new snack categories, according to Kitirattragarn, who predicted 50% to 70% growth in company revenue this year.
“Whole-food snacking is a trend,” he added, citing Barnana (organic banana snacks), Peeled (dried fruit snacks) and Rhythm (kale and superfood chips) as examples of businesses that were enjoying success by using minimally processed dried fruits and vegetables.
He added that, although there were plenty of pouched healthy snacks in the market, there was “no good destination across retailers”.
“Buyers need to be educated on the need for a healthy snacking destination in their stores,” he said.
