Webinar available on demand: Raising the Bar

The US Nutritional Bar market is growing rapidly, and many consumers are looking to protein bars for a nutritious snack on the go. Targeting everyone from mainstream consumers to high-performance athletes, bar brands are working hard to deliver solutions with broad appeal.

We've recently extended our bar portfolio with three new ingredients for high-protein low sugar bar formulations. 

NZMP invites you to continue this journey with us as we unveil how these ingredients can be used in nutrition bar applications.  

In this webinar, we will share:

• The current US bar market trends (popular claims, ingredients, successful and emerging brands)
• Insights from a renowned fitness coach on his health and nutrition journey
• How to differentiate your product in this competitive landscape with NZMP ingredients
• The importance of partnerships, from choosing the right packaging to positioning, branding to ambassadors
   

Don’t have time to watch the recording? Take 2 minutes to read our summary notes:

1. There is no one-size fits all for bars but protein still reigns as top trends

Consumers are purchasing a diverse variety of snacking and nutrition bars to fit their needs, there is no one bar type that delivers to everyone. Yet whatever the type of bar, protein continues to be a key factor of bar choice (both protein amount and protein source) and there are a variety of different sources of proteins available.

2. Not all proteins are created equal

To provide the substrate for building and maintaining muscle mass to support physical performance, our bodies need a range of essential amino acids (EAA’s) that can only be supplied through protein in our diet. Dairy protein is a high quality, complete protein high in EAA’s, making it an ideal ingredient for formulating bars that not only taste great but deliver the best quality protein nutrition.

3. Healthy bars with functional benefits on the rise

Consumers are becoming increasingly active and therefore driven toward better-for-you bars that offer functional benefits that support them to keep on track with their health and performance goals. We are seeing an increasing number of bar launches that address expanding consumer benefits areas such as immunity, digestive health and sleep enhancement, indicating potential to innovate further in these area.

4. Blending ingredients to overcome manufacturing challenges

It takes more than simply adding protein when formulating bars. Mainstream consumers expect great taste, texture and the right nutrition, which can be challenging especially at higher protein levels. This challenge can typically be overcome by blending protein ingredients and/or adding inclusions.

5. Dairy ingredients for all bar formats

Fonterra has extensively evaluated the textural characteristics of a wide variety of ingredients to form its new NZMP bar ingredients portfolio. We can help brands formulate great tasting bars that deliver a range of consumer benefits, including increased energy, supporting muscle recovery after exercise, providing low-calorie meal replacement solutions, and even offering healthy indulgence snacking.

6. Opportunity for novel innovation in the bar market

Our panel is excited to see what is to come in the bar space! They challenge the nutrition bar industry to be innovative and come up with unique concepts and propositions that deliver on the ever-growing variety of consumer nutritional and health benefit demands.

7. Digital space as an immediate opportunity

From Prime to Walmart Delivery to Instacart, consumer behaviour has changed with many more consumers adding groceries to their online shopping cart versus in store shopping cart. Brands must stand out in that digital space, ensuring they are visible to their target consumers in our increasingly digital consumer buying landscape.