In September, Kind Snacks, a Mars brand, named Daniel Calderoni as CEO of Kind North America. Calderoni succeeds Russell Stokes, who served in that role since 2021 at the better-for-you snack brand, and reports to Blas Maquivar, global president of health and wellness, Mars Snacking.
Making snacks that “taste good, feel good and do good” and building on the brand’s mission to create a “kinder and healthier world” are first-order tasks for Calderoni, according to a company statement.
Beth Jarocki, Kind’s chief customer officer, shared insights with VendingMarketWatch.com on trends affecting the better-for-you snack market, how Kind sees the vending and micro market channel and what’s next for Kind Snacks in product development.
VMW: Kind Snacks has grown considerably since its launch in 2004. What markets do you see as key growth opportunities, and how do you plan to tackle the challenges of expansion?
Beth Jarocki: What consumers are looking for in an ever-growing and ever-evolving snack category is our greatest opportunity as a brand that delivers the best of nutritious and delicious snacking. One of our greatest opportunities is in the C-store channel. As an industry, snack bars have seen an 11.7% CAGR and are a $1 billion business for C-stores. We know that our consumers are always on-the-go, and in fact, 59% of healthy snackers are interested in purchasing bars in the convenience channel.
Leveraging these insights has been a critical part of seizing the strategic growth opportunities within C-stores. For example, we exclusively launched our Kind Protein Max product for in-store purchase via C-stores in December 2023 because we know our on-the-go consumers want more protein in their snacks. Protein Max is the first Kind product to have 20 grams of protein and no added sugar, and it’s available in two delicious flavors: Sweet & Salty Caramel Peanut Crisp and Crispy Chocolate Peanut Butter. We’ll have a more national launch for this SKU in 2025, and C-stores will represent 30% of the Protein Max business.
To capitalize on this growth and to support Kind’s success in the C-store channel, the Kind C-Store Team has partnered with the Mars Wrigley NA Sales organization, leveraging existing scale and establishing a first-ever hybrid selling approach. Looking ahead, we will continue to drive strategic spending in the C-Store channel and transform the trade strategy to prioritize C-store partner retailers.
VMW: How do the vending and micro markets play into your plans? Is it an important channel for Kind Snacks? What are the challenges of selling into the vending/micro market channel? Where do you see opportunities in that market?
Beth Jarocki: Reaching consumers in convenience-focused locations such as c-stores, micro markets and vending machines is a core pillar of Kind’s mission. Kind believes consumers shouldn’t have to choose between healthy and tasty even when making a choice at a vending machine.
Secondly, trial and reaching new consumers is always top of mind for our business. Navigating the vast channel can be challenging, but our goal is to offer consumers healthy snacking no matter where they are and especially on-the-go.
VMW: The snack food industry is highly competitive. How do you plan to maintain or strengthen Kind’s competitive edge? Where do you see opportunities to expand Kind's market penetration?
Beth Jarocki: Given the category is competitive and more saturated, we will continue to remain focused on being a consumer-first business. Examples of the opportunities we’re working to unlock include [the following].
Perfect Store Initiative: In 2025, we’re doubling down on where Kind shows up on shelves. Increasing Kind availability and presentation on shelves is key to fueling growth for not only the Kind business but for retailers as well. To achieve this, key priorities include making sure Kind’s top-performing SKUs are on shelves and moving Kind into the breakfast aisles from other parts of the store. For example, Kind sales grew 34% at a top retailer in the southeast in 2023 due to Kind’s optimal presence in the healthy snack and breakfast aisle.
High Protein: 65% of adults want more protein — functional benefits in their quick and easy snacks. It’s why we launched Kind Protein Max. Amongst competitors, it’s the only bar that leads with a nutrient-dense first ingredient and contains no artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols. This product continues to build distribution and velocity as we plan to launch it nationally next year.
We think there are a lot of opportunities to continue expanding in this high protein category. In addition to high protein, another functional benefit consumers are looking for is bars with lower sugar. Along with the Protein Max bars that have no added sugar, Kind’s Zero-Added Sugar nut bars are also delivering strong velocity numbers.
Flavor Innovation: Our insights show more than half of consumers enter the category on flavors outside of peanut and dessert, with seeds and fruit being the top flavor groups for attracting new buyers. This led us to the launch of the Seeds, Fruit & Nut bars earlier this year with flavors like Strawberry Sunflower Seed and Orange Cranberry Pumpkin Seed. Additionally, one of our key retail partners shared that their consumers are eager to have more savory nut bar offerings, which led to the launch of our Savory bars in tandem with the Seeds, Fruit & Nut bars, featuring bold new flavors like Roasted Jalapenos & Mesquite Paprika.
