Salami chips: the new beef jerky?
First came potato chips, then coconut chips and kale chips. Next... How about salami chips?
Riding the charcuterie trend, a company in Toronto called Sanada has just hit the market with Baked Salami Chips.
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Available in 25-gram bags, the chips are soft, thinly sliced salami rounds. They are baked, contain only salami from Ontario, are high in protein and gluten-free, says Sandro Micieli, founder of Sanada.
"I wanted to make a new snack product," Micieli told Canadian Grocer, adding that he sees Salami Chips as "the new beef jerky."
Upscale Toronto grocer McEwan began carrying the chips two weeks ago, merchandising them on clip strips in the chip aisle for $5.99 a bag.
A sampling event was held at the store (see photo above).
Micieli said he spent six months developing the chips, at first experimenting at home on his mom's salami.
An entrepreneur, Micieli is better known in health-care circles than in the food biz. He’s the founder IMD Health, a maker of touchscreens that doctors can use to visually explain to patients what is ailing them.
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In 2009, the company won an Innovation@Work award from Profit magazine and Rogers (which owns Canadian Grocer) for the devices.
Micieli, who had since sold IMD, says he's now pitching his Baked Salami Chips to grocers. He’s also set up a website at Salamichips.ca for online orders.
He believes that people who find beef jerky too chewy will especially enjoy Salami Chips. Customers at McEwan who tried the chips described them with words such as "tender" and "different", Micieli noted.
Cured meat sales in Canada have been on the rise. According to Nielsen data supplied by Pillar’s Fine Foods earlier this year, sales of sliced deli meats grew 7% in 2013, while dry-cured salami was up 63%.
Sales of meat sticks and beef jerky, meanwhile, were up 18% in dollars and 5% in units across all channels for the 52 weeks to Sept. 20, 2014, according to Nielsen.