Arla Reveal Calcium Rich Ingredient Solutions For Children’s’ Snacks

06 Sep 2016 --- Arla Foods Ingredients has developed a range of protein and calcium-rich snacking solutions for children, offering a healthier alternative to chocolate bars and other popular children’s snacks.

The new products aim to help manufacturers create healthier, tastier snacks for children, and have been benchmarked against existing kids’ snacks options to ensure they represent a superior option in terms of improved nutrition.

Kasia Lindegaard, Customer Marketing Manager at Arla Foods Ingredients, told NutritionInsight: “These new solutions give brands an easy way to create healthier dairy-based snacks for kids with a more nutritious profile than typical popular products, such as candy and chocolate bars.”

A range of options are available, including an easy-to-eat 35g ‘dairy bar’ that offers as much calcium per serving as in one glass of milk, and is 20% protein and low in calories. Benchmarked against a typical chocolate bar, it contains one-third less energy and, Arla foods claim that since more of the calories come from protein, energy release in the body is optimized.

“This helps youngsters to feel fuller for longer than they would with confectionery, where more of the energy comes from sugars,” continues Lindegaard, “Other innovative application solutions in the new snacking range include a yoghurt bar, a healthier dessert, a carbonized drinking yoghurt and a snack cake with less than 100 calories per serving.”

With recent research showing that snacks now account for about one-quarter of the calories American children consume, the role of snacking in their diets is now under greater scrutiny than ever before. As a result, demand is increasing for kids’ snacks that taste great and offer good nutrition, which is not always an easy balance to achieve.

“Concern about obesity among children is a global issue and healthier kids’ snacking is a category with relevance all over the world,” commented Lindegaard. “Key markets for these solutions are expected to be the UK, US and Asia, where the obesity problem is particular acute. Importantly, all of these solutions can be tailored to suit local tastes and flavor preferences.”

The new products from Arla foods are fresh dairy products, which means they will need to be stored in the chiller in-store. “This is another big positive, because fresher products are perceived to be healthier,” added Lindegaard, continuing, “It also means they can be sold alongside everyday products like milk, cheese and yoghurts. As such, it gives dairies in particular the potential for entering a new category – kids’ snacking – by delivering products with a healthier profile that taste really good. It means both mum and her children will be happy – a real win-win situation.”

Other innovative application solutions in the new snacking range include a yoghurt bar, a healthier dessert, a carbonized drinking yoghurt and a snack cake with less than 100 calories per serving.

“When they are given the choice, most kids will choose snacks that are fatty and sugary because they prefer the taste,” said Lindegaard, “The challenge for parents, therefore, is to buy and offer them healthier products they will still enjoy but which are better for them. For food manufacturers, this presents an excellent opportunity to meet a clear need in the market. Now, with these new dairy-based kids’ snacking solutions, there is an easy way to develop new products that will appeal to both parents and children.”

by Hannah Gardiner