Snac World -- State of the Industry 2019 - 18

STARTUPS

Many recent startup
snack brands feature
vegetable ingredients
combined with
innovative flavors.

BOOMCHICKAPOP, Minneapolis. Angie Bastian and
her husband Dan founded the company in 2001 to
fund their children's college education. Today, Angie's
BOOMCHICKAPOP is the fastest-growing RTE popcorn in the US, according to IRI.
Stories of successful startups can be seen
across the industry, and considering the details
of how they attained their goals is key to understanding where the industry is going.

FINDING INNOVATIVE IDEAS
Mozaics organic popped veggie and potato chips
were inspired by consumer trends toward healthier
snacks with powerful flavors. In March, Spinning
Wheel Brands launched its line of the organic
popped veggie and potato chips. Mozaics potato
chips are made with real peas and black beans
that consumers can see in the chip.
"We'd been familiar with the evolution of popped
snacks," Ms. Stamberger said. "As consumers'
tastes gravitated toward nutrition and protein, we
found technology that enabled us to embed a
popped chip with raw, unadulterated vegetables.
This was our 'half-step innovation' for Mozaics."
Spinning Wheel Brands understood that salty
snacks drive the category, and popped chips had
already proven themselves in the market. So,
they decided to build a better potato chip featuring 30 to 40% real vegetables.
Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP production began
in the Bastian family garage. Within a few years,
the company expanded into a 20,000-sq-ft processing facility.
To keep up with its rapid growth, it hired con-

SNAC WORLD 2019

sultants to identify the necessary equipment to
increase capacity and stay true to the handmade,
batch process that made its kettle corn popular. "At
the time, industry consultants made recommendations that were supposed to make production
easier and less expensive using artificial ingredients,
preservatives or processing agents in our popcorn,"
Ms. Bastian said. "This was not something we
wanted to do, so we challenged our team to make
production easier and less expensive without compromising the quality and integrity of the food."
Mr. Sarlls said new brands with a clear idea of
what they want their final product to look and taste
like, and those focused on protein, fiber and ancient grains are finding success in today's market.
Whether it's a vegetable-based popped chip or
a new kind of kettle popcorn, creating the next
startup brand takes more than just the concept.

FINDING THE RIGHT CHANNEL
Consumers today can find their favorite snacks in a
multitude of channels. Increasing visibility, whether
retail or online, is becoming more of a challenge.
Instead of conventional market testing, Angie's
BOOMCHICKAPOP leaned on rapid prototyping
and customer-centric "Test & Learns" to innovate
strategically, according to Erin Ruhf Franklin,
brand manager, Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP.
Eventually, the company was acquired by Conagra
Brands, Chicago, which gave the company the
ability to distribute Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP to
nearly every major retailer in the US.
Connecting with a wide consumer base is crucial to success. Startups today should think about

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY

Snac World -- State of the Industry 2019

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