KIND bars now come in a more bite-sized package.
On Monday, KIND Healthy Snacks announced its new KIND Minis will be available nationwide. The company tested the 100-calorie miniatures in stores regionally for about a year before releasing them around the country.
Founder and CEO Daniel Lubetzky hopes that KIND Minis will offer consumers a more nutritional choice than the reduced portion snack packs readily available today, especially as an option for kids’ snacks, he told Fortune.
“For years, 100-calorie snacks have enjoyed a health halo due to their smaller pack sizes and lower calorie count, but in reality they provide little nutritional value,” Lubetzky said. “We hope to shift the conversation so that it focuses less on quantity of calories and more on quality of ingredients.”
Snacking is one of the fastest growing food categories in the U.S. and around the world. Snacks have accounted for about half of food and beverage occasions since 2016, and 90% of consumers report snacking multiple times a day, according to Hartman Group.
At the same time, shoppers are looking to healthier snacks to satiate their appetites. About one-third of consumers prioritize quick bites that are low sugar, salt, fat, and calories, while another one-third prefer snacks that are high in fiber, protein, and whole grains, according to a report from Nielsen.
“Many leading miniature snacks are just smaller versions of their nutrient-deficient full-size counterparts. We opted to create a snack with a minimally processed, nutrient dense first ingredient like nuts versus enriched flour or refined sugar,” said Stephanie Perruzza, registered dietitian and health and wellness expert at KIND.
While KIND has been criticized in the past for branding their products as “healthy” despite high fat contents, Lubetzky hopes the smaller KIND bars will give consumers an alternative to on-the-go snacks that offer mostly empty calories and process flours and sugars.
The KIND Minis have just three grams of sugar and no more than eight grams of fat and are higher in protein and fiber than most portion-controlled products. Minis will be available online and in retailers around the country.
