Breton's new cracker chip "pops" onto shelves

Allison McCreary, brand manager of crackers at Dare Foods spoke with Canadian Grocer about its new Breton Popped, what it calls Canada’s first supergrain cracker chip.

Canadian Grocer: What’s the reason for the new Breton cracker?

Allison McCreary: Breton Popped allows the brand to expand in the snacking eating occasion in a meaningful way that is credible for the brand to own. This new product platform also represents the brand’s first foray under its new brand positioning: Breton Live.



How is Breton Popped being positioned?

Snacking is a large and growing eating occasion posting a 19 per cent growth in annual meals per capita between 2001 and 2011. As consumers continue to seek ‘better-for-you’ snacking options, an opportunity exists for Breton to enter the snacking space leveraging the goodness of whole grain “supergrains” such as quinoa, spelt and amaranth. Supergrains are known for their nutritive benefits such as being high in protein and fibre content and are highly motivating to consumers as evidenced through our concept test results for this new Breton product.

As taste is paramount when it comes to repurchases, was it difficult coming up with something that was tasty and healthy?

Taste is absolutely paramount to drive repurchase and we embraced this throughout the entire product development process. The product proposition is grounded in the promise of ‘great taste of supergrains’ thereby ensuring both the health and taste components were both highly regarded throughout the entire process. It is the naturally delicious flavour of supergrains that come through in the final product recipe. Consumers are also motivated by health concerns and are therefore interested in ‘better-for-you’ products that they can feel less guilty about eating across a variety of eating occasions including snacking, meal accompaniment, entertaining and ‘on-the-go’. Good value is also a top-rated purchase motivator.

How are crackers best merchandised in grocery?

In the cracker set, crackers are best merchandised on shelf by consumer segment, as per the shopper/consumer decision tree.  Grocers can also maximize incremental purchases through off-shelf display by merchandising crackers with other accompanying toppings such as options available in the deli (meats, cheeses, spreads and dips).

When it comes to cracker ingredients, what are the driving trends?

In general, consumers are seeking products that are ‘absent of bad’ and ‘present with good’ ingredients. Natural/simple ingredients are a current trend demonstrated in consumer’s preference for ingredient lists that contain ingredients that consumers understand. Health concerns are top-of-mind and are demonstrated in consumer’s interest in products with whole grain content that are also low in fat and contain no artificial colours or flavours. Breton Popped was designed with many of these trends in mind and is made with 10 g whole grain per serving, is trans fat and cholesterol free, low in saturated fat and contains no artificial colours or flavours.