‘Game changing’ UK snack startup launching with ‘truly’ better-for-you crisps

By Gill Hyslop

- Last updated on GMT

Mindful Snacker is aiming to be 'the most innovative snack brand company on the market', according to founders Tara Quick, Ruth Fittock and Nat Cooper. Pic: Mindful Snacker
Mindful Snacker is aiming to be 'the most innovative snack brand company on the market', according to founders Tara Quick, Ruth Fittock and Nat Cooper. Pic: Mindful Snacker

Related tags Mindful Snacker better for you Healthy snacks

Mindful Snacker – founded by an all-female team with over 20 years in the development and marketing of snack brands – is poised to change the future of crisps as the industry knows it.

Tara Quick, Popchips alum Ruth Fittock and Nat Cooper (previously Vita Coco) came together to pool their extensive knowledge to create a company that brings the simple pleasure back into snacking with ‘truly’ better-for-you snacks.

The London-based startup will roll out its first product in April, using a patented cooking process that has been more than 10 years and £20million+ in the making to produce potato crisps with significantly lower fat and salt-content. The crisps will be launched in the convenience sector as well as independent grocery and delis, health/wellness outlets and coffee chains.

“Our aim is to provide delicious better-for-you snacks which bring the pleasure back to snacking,”​ said Quick, who will act as the startup’s CEO.

“We focus on all-natural ingredients that you recognise, minimal processing, no additives, we’re conscious of salt content, but ultimately we are driven by taste – everything we do is delicious, we’re obsessed with flavour and quality.

“Whilst taste will always be the number one factor, we have seen health increasingly become a driver of comfort food sales during the pandemic, and we’ve responded to that.

"Snacking is now more important now to our everyday lives than ever before. What if there was a better way to enjoy what you love and avoid the pitfalls; namely fat, salt and calories? We want to be the future of snacking.”

Ruth Fittock, who takes on the mantle as Mindful Snacker’s marketing director, added, “I’ve worked in snacks for years and have launched some really innovative brands in the UK, and I believe that Mindful Snacker is going to be a serious player within the convenience sector within months and the visionary attitude of the team, combined with the focus on innovation and research meant it was a no-brainer to go on this journey with them.

“In a post-pandemic world, the importance of health for the consumer is going to dictate the way in which the convenience sector develops and Mindful Snacker is going to be at the forefront.”

Reduced risk

Mindful Snacker has been backed by Venture Specialists Pilot Lite, a venture management firm that helps to identify, de-risk, validate and launch early-stage technologies, with significantly reduced risk normally associated with a startup.

The financial support means the team can viably discuss larger-scale in-store marketing and POS support for retailers to ramp up sales activity very early in the buying process.

“Mindful Snacker is going to be one of the most disruptive brands in the snack market in 2021,” ​said Mike Anstey, CEO of Pilot Lite.

“We are delighted to be working with some of the best experts in this field: this is a team with serious taste.”

Apart from the crisps, Mindful Snacker has a myriad of launches planned for 2021 across a range of categories to offer consumers ‘genuine’ better-for-you plant-based alternatives to traditional snacks.

“I think we might just have the most exciting snack launch for 2021 coming up this April,”​ added Fittock.

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