Baking & Snack - March 2006 - 61

MARKET UPDATE

In response to these factors, a
number of bakeries and snack food
producers are opting to introduce
kid-friendly products that are more
focused on health and nutrition. The
cereal and bread categories seem to
be the most popular areas of product development for this segment.
Products not only have to appeal to
mothers on the nutritional side, but
they also have to have excitement and
flavor that attracts children.
Last fall, George Weston Bakeries,
Horsham, PA, introduced X-treme
Breads that combine the soft texture
that children prefer with the nutrition mothers want. According to the
company, the line was meant to "redefine the way kids and moms look at
bread." The line includes a white variety and a wheat variety made with
whole grains. The breads are high in
calcium, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
In January, Interstate Bakeries
Corp., Kansas City, MO, rolled out

64 / BAKING & SNACK / March 2006

three bread varieties under its Wonder brand including Wonder Kids.
The white bread fortified with added
fiber and calcium was designed to
appeal to moms who want their children to have the nutrition they need
in the white bread they love, according to the company.
On the breakfast front, cereals
have always been an area of market segmentation with numerous
children's cereals on the shelves.
However, recent introductions have
focused more on nutrition than the
stereotypical high-sugar varieties.
General Mills, Minneapolis, MN,
launched a non-branded television
health advertising campaign targeted at children last summer. "Choose
Breakfast" is the company's largest
advertising effort ever in terms of
its annual reach of kids and was designed to communicate the benefits
of breakfast. The campaign is supported with kid-friendly health and
fitness messaging on more than
300 million boxes of cereal
and on the company's Web
site. A stand-alone Web site,
www.choosebreakfast.com, was
also launched.
Kashi Co., La Jolla, CA, purchased by Kellogg Company in
2000, introduced Mighty Bites
children's cereal that features
15% of the daily value (DV) of
calcium, 25% of the DV of vitamin C, 5 g of protein and 35 mg
of choline. It is also an excellent
source of iron and zinc.
Kellogg Company's Tiger
Power cereal is packed with
protein and made with whole
grains. The product is also a
good source of calcium, iron
and fiber and was introduced by
the Battle Creek, MI-based company in 2004. According to the
company, the cereal is specially
formulated to help kids grow.
The first product line to
roll out of Nature's Path's
Blaine, WA, plant in 2000 was
EnviroKidz. The line, which
launched with four certified-organic

cereals for children, now includes
snacks and toaster waffles all formulated and marketed for children.
"At the time we introduced the line,
organic foods for kids were really
very minimal," said David Neuman,
vice-president sales and marketing,
Nature's Path, Richmond, BC. "There
was organic baby food, and then it
skipped kids and jumped to adults.
Kids cereals generally had a negative
reputation of having high sugar and
poor nutrition, so we used our expertise at making healthy adult cereals to
create healthy options for kids."
The original line included Gorilla Munch, Amazon Frosted Flakes,
Koala Crisp and Orangutan O's. They
contain half the sugar of other kids
cereals, are low in fat and three of the
four are gluten free. The cereals also
feature simple ingredient lists and
are priced comparably. The launch
of the line was strong and resonated
with children because it was tied to an
environmental message. EnviroKidz
donates 1% of its annual sales to endangered species and environments.
The company used focus groups and
had the kids help choose the animals
to feature on the boxes. Two varieties
have since been added to line: Cheetah Chomps and Panda Puffs.
The EnviroKidz line now includes
three varieties of crispy rice bars,
three varieties of animal cookies and
two varieties of toaster waffles.
Mr. Neuman, who also serves
as chairman of the Whole Grains
Council, pointed out two important
characteristics that parents want to
see in children's foods. "Parents are
looking for whole-grain, low-sugar,
organic options to what's available
out there for children," he said. He
also pointed out that the taste is very
important in order to appeal to kids.
"The line has been a great experience for our company because it
taught us how to develop a cradleᮤ One of six varieties of low-sugar, low-fat
organic cereals in the EnviroKidz line, Cheetah
Chomps offers a healthy alternative to typical
sugary kids cereals.
NATURE'S PATH
http://www.choosebreakfast.com
Baking & Snack - March 2006

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