Kind, the US snacks maker known for its cereal bars, has entered the country’s fruit snacks category.
The company said it is intent on combating children’s consumption of added sugars.
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The New York firm has released Kind Fruit Bites. It claims the product line, which contains only fruit and no added sugar, will disrupt a category that, despite its name, has traditionally over-indexed on snacks filled with added sugar rather than fruit.
Daniel Lubetzky, founder and CEO of Kind, said: “Since day one, Kind has been committed to balancing health and taste, and our Kind Promise has centred on crafting snacks with a nutritionally-dense first ingredient.
“Kind Fruit Bites honours this promise, and is consistent with how we’ve always entered categories – with an eye toward disruption and a goal of elevating people’s overall experience.”
Kind quotes IRI data from June this year which revealed sugar consumption among US children remains high, with kids on average eating 80 grams, or 19 teaspoons, of added sugar per day – more than three times the recommended limit of 25 grams (according to the American Heart Association).
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By GlobalDataThese numbers indicate that, in one year, the average nine-year-old is eating his or her body weight in added sugar.
It suggested fruit snacks are an often undetected contributor to this overconsumption, with nine out of the ten leading fruit snacks containing added sugar as the first ingredient.
Stephanie Perruzza, registered dietitian and health & wellness specialist at Kind, said: “While the general public’s understanding of nutrition has become increasingly sophisticated, an opportunity still exists to educate on added sugars. This is especially true in categories like fruit snacks, where people understandably assume that their snack is made predominantly of wholesome ingredients, such as fruit.
“We saw our entrance into the children’s snack space as an appropriate time to use our voice for good – to help people understand how much added sugar kids are eating every day, and how that can be detrimental to their overall health.”
In addition to no added sugar, Kind Fruit Bites do not contain any juices, purees, concentrates, preservatives or genetically-engineered ingredients. Each snack has only three ingredients or less, and is made with only real fruit, including cherries, apples and mangos, and each pouch provides one full serving of fruit.
Kind promoted the launch of Fruit Bites – and its anti-sugar message – by dumping a ‘mountain’ of sugar in New York’s Times Square.
