Quaker attempts to boost healthy snacks sector with well-timed launch

Cereal and snacks company Quaker has announced its biggest ever launch -- a new mini crispbread snack which it will target at the healthy eating category.

Quaker Seasons is a range of baked crispbreads, that Quaker has spent the past four years developing at a total cost of over £25m. The launch is also being backed by a £10m marketing programme as part of Quaker's attempts to bolster the healthier snacking market, which it says is one of the fastest growing categories in snacks.

PepsiCo trade marketing manager Nicky Seal says the new launch satisfies the growing trend for healthier snacking because they are oven baked rather than fried. They are also made with high oleic sunflower oil, which Quaker says makes them low in saturated fat but doesn't compromise the taste.

"Research shows that healthier shoppers avoid the temptation of shopping the snacks or confectionery fixture," says Seal. "However, many impulse outlets have been slow to pick up on nutrition and the healthier snacking opportunity, and are losing out on a valuable and growing market the multiples have already been quick to pick up on."

The snacks have been developed in three varieties; in two traditional flavours -- Cheese, Onion & Chives and Salt & Cracked Black Pepper -- and the more unusual variant Caribbean Chicken. They will be available in 28g bags, multipacks of four and 120g sharing packs.

Seasons will be launched in January to coincide with a peak in healthier eating as people make their New Year resolutions, says Quaker, and will sit alongside its other low-fat product, Snack-a-jacks, which it launched three years ago and which is now worth £50m.