Here are three of the up-and-coming businesses that caught our eye at last month's event:
Wild Boar Chocolate made with wild ingredients
Canadian manufacturer Hagensborg Chocolates was showing its Wild Boar organic dark chocolate. Founder Shelley Wallace said the new bar line was created primarily for 35-year-old women who value the health benefits of simple ingredients and are socially responsible.
Wild Boar chocolate bars use organic and Fair Trade-certified ingredients and contain cocoa beans sourced from Madagascar, Santo Domingo and Peru.
Wild Boar is available in six flavors retailing at $5.99 for a bar: toasted coconut and banana; truffle salt and almond with 39% cocoa; sour cherry and almond with 65% cocoa; salted star anise with 65% cocoa; single-origin Santo Domingo dark chocolate; and single-origin Madagascar dark chocolate.
Wallace added had the company saw good results when it first sold the new chocolate bars at 40 Whole Foods stores in Texas in March this year.
Hagensborg has just started rolling out the products across the US, and is hoping the launch will contribute to a 15% hike in revenue in 2016.
Simple Mills enters cracker category
Simple Mills has extended its repertoire from almond flour-based baking mixes to almond flour-based crackers.
CEO Katlin Smith told BakeryandSnacks she took out a lot of sugar and carbohydrate that traditionally found in such products to create the new cracker line.
Simple Mills almond flour crackers contain no artificial ingredients and are available in four flavors: fine ground sea salt; farmhouse cheddar; rosemary sea salt; and sun-dried tomato and basil. They are available in about 1,000 Whole Foods stores across the US in 4.25-ounce boxes with a recommended retail price of $4.99.
The new cracker line was recently named the number one new product release on Amazon, according to Smith.
Super Eats targets athletes with veggie protein snacks
Started up two years ago with a mission to produce classic snacks with healthier, functional ingredients, Super Eats unveiled its Sacha Inchi chips and puffs at the Summer Fancy Food Show.
Co-founder Aaron Gailmor said no other US snack producers were using Sacha Inchi, a high-protein plant-based ingredient that is native to Peru and has a nutty flavor similar to peanut. Each four-ounce bag of chips or puffs has 50 g of protein in total, and retails for around $4.
The chip range is available in sea salt and nacho flavors, and the puffs in garlic Parmesan flavor. In line with Super Eats’ existing kale chip products, the new Sacha Inchi line is expected to be available at GNC stores across the US to target athletes.
Super Eats is aiming for double-digit sales growth this year, added Gailmor.