UK-based company Bite the Sun gave a pre-launch sneak preview of its first healthy snacking and sharing Nut and Seed Bites range to retailers at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes last month.

 

TRBusiness.com was invited to an informal tasting during a meeting at the exhibition and was impressed by the concept and the quality of the products. Bite the Sun hopes that the“dry-roasted crunchy” cubes, sweetened with cane juice will offer travellers an alternative to chocolate and high-sugar snacks, prevalent in travel retail locations. The full range will be available from early 2013.

 

“Each 84g snack-pack size bag contains around15g of protein, is packed with essential, healthy fats, and is very low in sugary carbohydrates,” says the health food company.

 

According to Bite the Sun Commercial Director Adele Wolstenhulme, the combination of a small amount of sugar (in the cane juice) is offset by the naturally-occurring protein and fat, proving suitable for diabetics looking for a healthy snack.

 

ECO-FRIENDLY

The range will consist of four varieties in 84g eco-friendly packaged snack-packs, and 140g / 252g medium and bumper sharing bag sizes, including Almond, Cashew Nut, Nut & Berry and Pumpkin Seed Bites.

 

The sharing bag line features a Mixed Bumper Sharing Bites pack, with 2x 252g bags of each variety, packaged in an “eco- and travel-friendly carry case”. All varieties will also be available in mixed 140g and mixed 84g mini-sharing packs.

 

Bite The Sun aims to target key retailers in the US, Europe and Asia/Pacific with its Nut & Seed Bites in travel retail exclusive packaging. Gifting formats for travel-retail are also currently being developed for the Asian market for 2013.

 

The brand is also launching a liquid supplement blend, which contains “natural, bioactive forms of ingredients widely demonstrated to mop up free radicals, which are associated with oxidative damage and premature ageing”.

 

BODYPEACE SUPPLEMENT

BodyPeace, which will be branded as the ‘Essential Travel Companion’, has been formulated by Bite the Sun’s nutrition and scientific team, incorporating green tea and curcumin, and will be exclusive to travel-retail.

 

Bite the Sun Commercial Director Adele Wolstenhulme says the opportunity for a new category of ‘specialist dietary foods and drinks’ has still not been fully leveraged, and that the health-conscious and health-compromised remain the most overlooked groups in travel-retail.

 

“There is a recognised demand across all consumer segments for portable delicious and nutritious snacks as evidenced in the Listening to the Global Consumer insight study 2008,” says Wolstenhulme.

 

Wolstenhulme was lead consultant on this study, which was conducted in 36 of the world’s busiest airports. “Airports and train stations are overflowing with food and beverage providers,” adds Wolstenhulme, “but there is precious little to eat or drink for the health-conscious traveller, and even less for the health-compromised.

 

HEALTH-CONSCIOUS TRAVELLER

“As a frequent and health-conscious traveller myself, I know I have to plan ahead before I fly. I bring my own food because of the limited and unappealing options currently available in airports, and the situation deteriorates further after you board the plane, especially on no-frills airlines.

 

“Most inflight food options that I’ve come across are insufficient to sustain your energy levels for long. Most are loaded with sugar and additives, so I choose to go without until I reach my destination.”

 

Wolstenhulme says that according to the study, Bit the Sun is aware that consumers want simple, real, unprocessed food without unnecessary starches, additives, preservatives, synthetic ingredients and hidden sugars.

 

“Research shows excess carbohydrates are making us fat, lethargic and sick,” she adds. “Yet snacks and on-the-go foods are still refined, carbohydrate-rich, with added sugar and lacking in adequate protein and “good” essential fats.”

 

EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGNS

Wolstenhulme believes that the problem is that consumers are being ‘hoodwinked’ into believing all labelled ‘healthy’ snacks out there really are good for them.

 

Bite the Sun plans to run fun, educational campaigns with travel-retail partners to build brand awareness around the products and the global interactive online community.

 

Via the website, consumers can access practical and detailed information on food and nutrition, activity and movement, as well as tools and techniques that encourage adequate rest and stress reduction.

 

The Bite the Sun website, which launches in January 2013, will be tightly interconnected with social media, iOS and other mobile platforms.