When its outlets started selling eggs bites in early 2017, Starbucks had no idea it would start a portable breakfast trend. That trend, which increased during the pandemic, is now mainstream at retail as consumers seek out flavorful, nutritious and quick-to-prepare warm breakfast foods.
One of the newest players in this space is Chicago-based Dutch Farms Inc. Staying true to its Dutch roots, the company offers a full line of farm-fresh dairy, deli, meat and bakery products, so entering the refrigerated egg bites category was a natural progression. New Sous Vide Egg Bites are described as all-natural small soufflés made from cage-free eggs and premium low-carbohydrate ingredients.
Whole egg varieties are sausage with cheddar and bacon with Swiss, with one egg bite containing 150 or 190 calories and 10g or 9g protein, respectively. The vegetarian variety--broccoli parmesan—is made with egg whites only and contains 60 calories and 9g of protein. The fully cooked gluten-free bites come in 5-oz. packs of two. Sous vide is a culinary technique where vacuum-sealed food is immersed in water and cooked at a precise, consistent temperature to lock in flavor.
Kind Healthy Snacks is rolling out its first frozen breakfast snack offering: Kind Frozen Smoothie Bowl. Just as the brand disrupted and elevated the bar aisle, Kind, now a part of Mars Inc., is bringing its plant-based equity to the breakfast category in a frozen format.
The bowls address the growing $3.7 billion frozen breakfast category, which has increased 7% year-over year, according to the company. While the frozen food breakfast aisle has been dominated by refined flours and animal proteins, Kind plans to change that with these fruit- and almond milk-based bowls that are topped with creamy nut butter and crunchy granola. With no more than 9g of added sugar and 7-8g protein, the bowls are ready to enjoy straight from the freezer.
The bowls come in four varieties: almond mango pineapple passion fruit, almond triple berry açaí, almond chocolate banana, and almond peach kiwi greens. Since 2004, Kind has grown its product portfolio to include more than 100 snacks made with a nutrient-dense first ingredient, such as nuts, whole grains or fruit.
The purpose-driven coffee company Riff is rolling out Riff Energy + Immunity, the company’s first sparkling energy drink focused on plant-powered energy and immunity benefits. The key ingredient is cascara, the juicy pulp surrounding coffee beans that is typically disposed of into landfills. By using this upcycled source of clean caffeine, the company is helping reduce waste in the coffee industry.
This next-generation energy drink comes in three flavors— Booyah Berry, Get-It Guava and Pick-It-Up Pomegranate--each loaded with powerful antioxidants, including immunity-boosting ingredients.
“At Riff, we love coffee, but don’t love coffee’s impact on our planet," says Paul Evers, co-founder and CEO. "When we discovered that the coffee fruit (cascara) is packed with nutrients and livened up with natural caffeine, we were inspired to add a unique, fruit-forward energy beverage to our lineup to help keep the earth we love in balance. We are making an impact in the coffee industry by creating economic viability for small coffee farmers with a new source of income and minimizing waste left by unused remains of the coffee fruit.”
K2 Ventures, a Boston-based startup dedicated to creating nutritious, whole ingredient snacks, is launching a new protein snack brand called Brave Good Kind, with all-natural Tender Chicken Bites as its first product. The bites come in three succulent flavors—hot honey, original and teriyaki--and are made with antibiotic-free chicken and spices. They are a good source of protein, gluten free and contain no monosodium glutamate or added nitrates.
The company says the bites are tender and easy to eat, unlike many other jerkies, and are more filling than standard snacks loaded with sugar and carbohydrates. A 2.5-oz. bag boasts 9-10g protein, 5-7g carbohydrates and less than 6g sugar. A 10-pack of one variety sells for $59.99; a six-pack variety bundle is $39.99.
“Brave Good Kind was born to reimagine healthy snacking,” says Prabal Chaudhri, president and founder. “In our research, we found that more than 33% of millennial women are jerky consumers, however, the category doesn’t understand what women and their families really expect from a jerky.”
RightRice, the innovative vegetable-based rice company, adds RightRice Risotto to its lineup This modern version of the beloved creamy, rich, cheesy and buttery rice dish is now available dairy free.
While preparing traditional risotto may be a time-consuming, labor-intensive process, RightRice’s version cooks up in one pot in just 12 minutes. One serving provides 10g of complete, plant-based protein and 5g of fiber. The new vegan, non-GMO line comes in four flavors: basil pesto, creamy cracked pepper, creamy parmesan and wild mushroom. It’s available exclusively in Whole Foods Market stores nationwide and online on Amazon. A 6-oz pouch has a suggested retail price of $3.99.
RightRice was founded in 2019 and made its debut with a namesake product, which is made from more than 90% vegetables (lentils, chickpeas and green peas) and delivers more than double the protein, five times the fiber and almost 40% fewer net carbohydrates than a bowl of white rice. It comes in a variety of flavors, as does the RightRice Medleys line, which rolled out in January 2020. This is a blend of RightRice, ancient grains and extra vegetables.
Beauty & The Broth is all about cleaning the body from the inside out. Founder Melissa Boloña discovered bone broth as the remedy to her longtime digestive issues. In addition to her stomach woes improving, she began seeing benefits in her hair, skin and nails from the naturally occurring collagen that comes from the bones.
Most broths she found in the marketplace were too bland or too gamey. She saw this as an invitation to chef-up broth recipes in her kitchen, and six months late, Beauty & The Broth was born. The subscription-based company offers organic, grass-fed, ranch-raised beef both and organic vegetarian-fed, free-range chicken bone broth concentrates made from scratch. They are slowly simmered together with organic vegetables and herbs.
One 3-oz. shelf-stable pouch is designed to be diluted with 12 oz. of water. The broths are paleo- and keto-friendly, gluten-free, free of preservatives and have no added salt. Each order includes a minimum of 12 pouches of concentrate along with a 12-oz. reusable BPA-free rice husk cup and a cup sleeve.
