In private label today, as we see elsewhere across the snack and bakery industry, clean label is still the current buzz phrase, and consumers continue to seek foods that fall into the larger better-for-you category.

JOLLY TIME recently introduced four new flavors: Sweet Maple Pancake, Cinnamon Sugar Cookie, Birthday Cake, and Caramel Delight.

The Popcorn Factory recently re-released several seasonal flavors.

Per IRI, Chicago, the salty snacks category was valued at $22.6 billion for the 52 weeks ending April 16, 2017—a number that encompasses potato chips, tortilla chips, extruded/puffed snacks including cheese puffs, ready-to-eat (RTE) popcorn, corn chips, pretzels and pork rinds—and sales were up 3.60 percent for the year (see the July “State of the Industry—Snacks” issue for detailed category data).

Within the past few years, choices for popcorn flavors have become more diverse. In 2017, you can choose to eat popcorn straight from the bag, made in the microwave, or even drizzled with chocolate. Consumers can even choose from flavors like honey butter and ranch. For today’s popcorn fans, this category offers more snacking options than ever before.

Malibu Mix combines the company’s signature Sea Salt & Olive Oil, White Cheddar and Kettle Corn flavors.

Automation and robotics are helping snack food producers and bakery businesses keep pace with a new generation of consumers.

More Americans are prioritizing both health and taste when reaching for snacks, according to research by Mintel, and G.H. Cretors Popped Corn has a delicious answer in three new organic varieties of its handcrafted popcorn: Organic White Cheddar, Organic Honey Butter Kettlecorn and Organic Salted Butter. 

The new Real Butter Tastes Better line of microwave popcorn, which features Quinn Snacks' patented Pure Pop bag, is made with grass-fed clarified butter and absolutely no “flavorings.” 

Chocolate is more ubiquitous than ever. You can find a chocolate-flavored version of just about any snack or bakery product.