By Peter Croatto

Cookies and crackers play a role far bigger than their intended purpose. Jill Robbins of Gak’s Snacks (Windham, NH) considers snacking to be a social event, so much so that she created a line of snacks, including organic cookies, so her youngest son could enjoy treats with his friends without enduring food allergies.

Such warm sentiments are clouded by the typical cookie’s suspect nutritional profile. Organic cookie and cracker makers have taken care of eliminating such junk, making the sentimental moments less fattening. For the organic shopper, that isn’t enough anymore, manufacturers say.

“Our consumers tell us that they care about making healthy snacking choices for their families,” said Lisa Fahey, director of marketing for Annie’s Homegrown (Napa, CA), whose organic Cheddar Bunnies feature organic ingredients. “They’re looking for snacks that are easy to serve [and] provide a nutritional value all in a fun-to-eat package. They look for products that contain whole grains and organic or natural ingredients, and they like to avoid trans fats, preservatives, and artificial flavorings.”

“As a busy, working mother I constantly need to give my son a snack on the run, but I’m not willing to sacrifice quality for convenience,” said Nicole Dawes, president of Late July Snacks (Hyannis, MA), a maker of organic crackers. “Children need healthy, fulfilling snacks to get them through the day. Late July and other organic manufacturers offer parents snack choices without corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, added hormones, antibiotics, or dangerous pesticides.”

Apparently, many other consumers have similar needs.

According to SPINS, the San Francisco-based market research and consulting firm for the natural products industry, organic cookies and snack bars generated over $66 million in natural supermarkets with revenues of over $2 million a year, up over $10 million from 2005 (SPINSscan Natural, 52 weeks ending June 17, 2006). In that same period, organic crackers and crispbreads tallied over $26 million, a 24.7 percent increase from the year before.

When Late July’s crackers premiered three years ago, Dawes said the company’s competition was light. Now, “it’s definitely getting more competitive, and it’s becoming even more critical to make sure each new product clearly satisfies an unanswered need or niche.”

“Cookies are like barbecue sauces, [or] salsa,” said John DePaolis, “head marketing guy” for Country Choice Organic in Eden Prairie, MN. “Everyone has a great recipe, and everyone wants to get it on the shelf.”

“Shoppers are more and more aware of organic products and it is becoming more important to the mainstream shopper,” said Cara Figgins, vice president of Partners (Seattle), which makes crackers with organic ingredients for its Blue Star Farms line.

Bridging the Generation Gap

Stephanie Torlakson, who handles marketing and community relations for Pamela’s Products (Ukiah, CA), believes that organic cookies don’t come with an easy identifiable customer. “It is common for adults to sit down with kids and enjoy cookies together, like after school or work; it can be a nice way to reconnect with one’s children after a long day,” she said.

That hazy identity makes it a challenge for manufacturers to attract both kids and adults. How do they attract kids without isolating parents, who are the ones buying the box of cookies and crackers? And let’s be honest. There has to be some adult appeal, as it’s very likely they’ll be joining their children in licking crumb-ridden fingers.

Debbie Reynolds, co-founder of organic cookie and cracker maker Healthy Handfuls (Grass Valley, CA), says packaging “plays a huge role” for kids and adults.

“In fact, a young child will always base his or her desire to pick up a product by the way it looks,” she said. “Our products have been very popular with the kids because they love the animals that we have associated with each of our products. On average, parents spend no more than three to five seconds looking at a product and then making the decision to actually pick it off of the shelf. Thus, the colors, the graphics, the shape of the package, and the words that jump off the package are critical.”

The concept is not lost on Annie’s. “While kids are often drawn to character shapes and brighter colors, parents look to nutritional highlights, name recognition, and product features,” said Fahey.

Kids are attracted to animated characters, a reason why licensed characters dominate food packaging, said Annie Bennett, president and CEO of My Family Farm (Ft. Thomas, KY), which offers cookies and crackers with organic ingredients in kid-friendly packaging. “However, oftentimes the [conventional] product itself is unhealthy for the child, which is a dilemma for the parents.”

Some cookie and cracker manufacturers have put a lot of thought into who or what represents their products. Annie’s packaging features Bernie, its “rabbit of approval.” Fahey said that the character “speaks to both groups – kids are drawn to his cute personality, while adults feel nostalgic for the simpler times the pen-and-ink drawing invokes.” She noted that the company also calls attention to “product highlights–like organic certification, [and] healthy ingredients–to help catch a parent’s attention.”

Snikiddy, a new company that makes organic cookies and puffs, features eponymous cartoon characters with, well, character.

“The organic shopper tends to be a little bit more educated, but there’s a lot of education still to be done,” said Mary Schulman, co-founder of the Bethesda, MD-based company. “Snikiddy isn’t just these snacks, but the real point is to teach children and parents about a healthy lifestyle. [The characters] play well with one another, they read, they play outside, they do all of the things that are important to leading a healthy lifestyle.”

Portion Control is not Just for Kids

The convenience of these products serves as a major selling point for adults.

“We have two different packages: an adventure pack [and] a five-count pack of individual snack packs—throw it in a lunch box, on the run,” Schulman explained. “The 90s were big— super-size this, huge portions, and jumbo popcorn. We’ve taken a closer look. Does a child need two ounces of cookies? That’s too big. [We have] .85-oz. [bags] and [that] equates to 24 g and five mini cookies. It’s a smaller portion so the mom is not going to have to take the bag away.”

Another consideration for retailers in stocking snack packs and the like is that adults need limits, too.

“We find that adults love our products as well because they can just keep a pouch in their purse or their car when they want a quick snack on the go,” Reynolds said. “If the package is more than one serving, the likelihood is that the child or the adult will finish the package and eat more than is necessary.” Healthy Handfuls offers its snacks in a resealable snack cup, a single-serve snack box, and a “fun-sized” pouch.

Pamela’s Products’ top organic flavors are now available in two-packs, a decision that its adult customers are grateful for, Torlakson said.

“For years people would call and write to tell us that they had a hard time putting the box away after two cookies; our new two-packs help where self-control cannot be trusted,” she joked. “They are also great for grabbing a snack on the go: perfectly measured snack-sized packages that fit in a lunch, purse, glove compartment for enjoying anytime, especially for those parents who find themselves running around without time to prepare a snack.”

No Flavors of the Weak

More customers are coming over from the mainstream, so the products should look similar to what they find in a bakery or supermarket. “As they start to understand organic, they start to expand their market basket [and] the number of categories they shop in,” said DePaolis. “Once they get there, they don’t want to buy something that is unique or mysterious, especially if it’s for their kids.”

This means loading up on the chocolate chip and sandwich crèmes, and scaling back on the flaxseed and spirulina cookies. Reynolds of Healthy Handfuls said the flavors kids prefer are subjective; Bennett said that as kids get older, they’re more willing to try exotic or special flavors. A retailer shouldn’t go wrong with cracker flavors like cheddar cheese, and sour cream and onion. Thinking mainstream is the key.

However, Torlakson and DePaolis see a difference between what will attract adults and kids.

“For Pamela’s Products, many of the flavors in our organic line are ultra decadent, things like Dark Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Cookies, which adults tends to want to keep for themselves,” Torlakson said. “We also have specifically adult flavors like Espresso Chocolate Chunk Cookies, clearly not a children’s treat. Our other flavors, like the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and the Chocolate Chip Pecan Shortbread, are favorites for both.”

Country Choice Organic offers a line of soft-baked cookies that DePaolis feels is more for adults, who might have memories of the cookies mom used to bake. Flavors in the soft-baked line include homemade staples such as ginger, oatmeal raisin, and chocolate chip walnut.

High-quality ingredients help make an organic cookie or cracker first-rate, Bennett said. As to what ingredients customers are looking for, several people interviewed for this article said shoppers are attracted to what isn’t in the product, a tactic Gak’s Snacks has embraced.

“Given our primary goal of providing snacks for those with food allergies, the specific ingredients of what is—and is not—in the product must be clearly stated,” Robbins said. “The front of our box says, ‘No peanuts, no tree nuts, no eggs, no wheat, no dairy, no artificial colors or flavors, no preservatives, no trans fat.’”

“Unfortunately, it is not just the ingredients, but the lack of ingredients that gets parents’ attention these days, as in the case of artificial and synthetic additives,” Bennett said. “ In addition, any organic ingredients in products make them more and more sought after.”

“They want to see an ingredient list that doesn’t sound like a science experiment,” Fahey said. “No weird stuff.”

What Retailers Can Do

Retailers can do their share to make organic cookies and crackers more appealing to prospective customers. One way this can be accomplished is by sharing a company’s philanthropic mission.

“In fulfilling our mission ‘to protect, nurture and empower children,’ My Family Farm works with retailers across the country on call-to-action strategies,” Bennett said. “This could involve me doing a seminar in a store on how to protect children, or conducting demos while passing out healthy parenting tips, or working with a local children’s charity in support of their community programs. This type of outreach empowers consumers and stores to be a part of the solution. Our vision sees commerce as being able to honestly and effectively create social positive change.”

“We always recommend that stores become active in their communities,” Torlakson said. “A retailer can pick a target market they would like to work with and go from there. For example, to entice a more mature audience, we recommend contacting a local club, service organization, or other community-based group and invite them to a shopping day, or go to them and demonstrate the products they would like to highlight. Always be sure that people know there will be free samples. Everyone loves free samples.

“With the rise of food allergies and intolerances, and other food-related concerns like diabetes, the natural food stores are now integral to servicing these populations,” she continued. “So, be sure that your target audience knows that there will be food for special diets as well. You could even hold a series of these community events based on different food concerns, like celiac disease, diabetes, etc.”

Retailers can provide shoppers with a better understanding of what is on their shelves without relying on outside help.

“Consumer education about the benefits of organic is still very important because there are very few organic crackers on the market; most of the newest introductions have been ‘all-natural’ or ‘made with organic ingredients’,” Dawes said. “The few truly organic selections still have a competitive advantage over the ‘all-natural’ alternatives if they are merchandised to highlight the difference.”

Or offer customers a taste. “One of the challenges for a product like this is to get people to taste it,” Robbins said of her cookies, which are certified organic by the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture. “When they see on a box, no peanuts, no eggs, organic, some people think, ‘That’s not for me, it’s not going to taste very good.’ When they taste it, then it’s like, ‘Wow, this is good.’ They start asking their family members to taste it. Then it’s just a good cookie.”

Added Bennett, “We think it is important for the packaging to clearly reflect the contents/ingredients of the package and all relevant allergen information. What can retailers do to enhance this quality? Shelves that are well-merchandised make all product packages look more attractive and appealing.” OPR

• Annie’s Homegrown, (800) 288-1089
• Country Choice Organic, (952) 829-8824
• Gak’s Snacks, (800) 552-7172
• Healthy Handfuls, (530) 268-8911
• Late July Snacks, (508) 775-1221
• My Family Farm, (859) 261-2627
• Pamela’s Products, (707) 462-6605
• Partners, (800) 632-7477
• Snikiddy, Inc., (301) 229-2335