Curate Kids bars, a new line of nutritious snacks from Abbott Nutrition, are made with good-for-you ingredients in kid-approved flavors.

Snack mixes today show much promise for widespread appeal. “There is opportunity for growth in the snack mixes industry, as we are beginning to see consumers snack almost as much as they eat full meals,” says Trip Kadey, director of culinary, The French’s Food Co. LLC, Chester, NJ.

In today’s food marketplace, bakers and snack manufacturers are navigating through the ever-evolving consumer awareness of better-for-you options. Digestive health. Less sugar. Fewer calories. Cleaner labels. The list goes on and on.

The number of gluten-free products that have entered the market in recent years is quite large—almost mind-boggling. To some degree, this trend was fostered by FDA’s relatively new rule, Gluten-Free Labeling of Foods (August 2013), which allows manufacturers of foods inherently gluten-free to make such label claims. Thus, we now have gluten-free tomato sauce, a product that was probably always gluten-free.

There are no secret ingredients or master recipes in great bread baking. Successful artisan bread baking is largely focused on controlling fermentation. Controlled fermentation accounts for greater dough strength, longer product shelf life due to acidification and, more importantly for your customer, complex flavor.

We’re in the midst of the Digital Age. With the onset of the Digital Revolution in the 1970s and continuing today, we’ve become significantly reliant upon computerized information. It’s the infrastructure of our high-tech global economy, and astute interpretation of this endless stream of data often makes or breaks businesses.

During research and development, bakers and snack producers face formulation hurdles on a daily basis. Luckily, functional ingredients like fats, oils, dough conditioners and egg replacers can help them solve a host of common challenges.

Smart Flour Foods’ recently announced that its pizza crusts are now Non-GMO Project verified.

Ingredion Inc. has launched NOVATION PRIMA 340 and 350 functional native starches for extended cold shelf life stability with a clean label.

Boundless Nutrition, maker of Oatmega protein snack bars, joins the Amplify portfolio alongside SkinnyPop Popcorn and Paqui Tortilla Chips.