Consumers worldwide are eating ever-more snack vegetables

Back to basics
Households are becoming smaller, we are working (and earning) more and we are also placing growing importance on health and convenience – and these developments are mirrored on every continent, according to Heleen van Rijn, Marketing Specialist at Rijk Zwaan. “Market research firm Nielsen has valued the annual global snack market at US$ 374 billion, and spending is rising by 2% each year. There is a very wide snack offering, but people are increasingly going back to basics: natural and healthy. So that makes fresh fruit and vegetables the perfect snacks.”


Year-round availability
Rijk Zwaan is responding to this trend, explains Johan Vis, Marketing Specialist Tomatoes: “Snack vegetables are a relatively new trend so the general picture is similar across the globe, namely a one-bite format, tasty, crunchy, sweet and with a good shelf life. Every retailer worldwide wants to be able to offer snack vegetables all year round. That’s why our breeders are focused on developing flavoursome varieties with good resistances that customers in all of the world's production regions can grow using medium-tech and high-tech methods – efficiently, residue-free and increasingly organic too. We're continuously innovating and improving our product range by adding new colours, shapes and flavours. We expect to see continued growth in the snack segment.”


Sparring partner
In view of this, it is not surprising that snack vegetables was a key theme on the company’s stand at Asia Fruit Logistica in early September. Rijk Zwaan presented its red, orange and yellow snack tomatoes, an orange pear-shaped snack tomato, snack bell peppers in various colours and the One-bite cucumber which measures just 5 to 6 centimetres long, plus packaging ideas for all these products.

“We promote our brand MyCubies®, baby size snack cucumbers, and ask our customers to use this brand. Rijk Zwaan develops varieties and sells seeds and our customers can use MyCubies for co-branding.  We have designed promotional materials which are ready to use for our partners, so no need to spend additional money on this. Healthy snacking is a fast growing category and we see a bright future for this ready to use concept – just grow and sell,” – explains Jan Doldersum, Manager Chain & Retail, met during Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong.

Heleen van Rijn: “When it comes to marketing, we enjoy being a sparring partner for our partners throughout the fresh chain. We share the results of our taste tests and consumer research with them, and can play a role in category management, positioning, promotion and packaging. Together with them, we can further develop the market for healthy snacks, and that fits well with our motto of ‘Sharing a healthy future’.”

Interested? Visit Rijk Zwaan at Fruit Attraction (Stand 9A02A) in Madrid from 23-25 October 2018.


Would you like to know more about Rijk Zwaan’s snack varieties?
Johan Vis, Marketing Specialist Tomatoes
j.vis@rijkzwaan.nl