Baby carrots that taste like chips?
Company using junk food-style flavourings, packaging to encourage kids to eat veggies
Bolthouse Farms is rolling out kid-friendly items such as Veggie Snackers, a brightly coloured pack of baby carrots that comes in a variety of seasoning designed to taste like chips.
'We believe that stealing a play out of the junk food playbook is a way for us to make these kinds of foods more emotive, more reachable, more accessible, more affordable, and that will increase consumption overall,' said Todd Putman, the company's chief commercial officer, to FastCoExist.
Veggie Snackers, which feature flavours such as Carrot Meets Ranch and Carrot Meets Chili Lime, are presented in bold packaging that proclaims 'Fun to eat!' and 'Spicy!' On one bag, a cartoon carrot sports a cowboy hat, neckerchief and Western-style boots.
Bolthouse, one of the leading producers of baby carrots and juices in the U.S., has also launched colourfully wrapped smoothies and tubes of puréed fruit.
'The marketing world in produce is very different than what is typically called the centre of the store,' added Mr Putnam, who previously worked for Coca-Cola. 'In the centre of the store, there's a lot of capability and marketing and innovation that happens on those products. In produce, you just don't see the same kind of marketing activation, the same kind of packaging, the same kind of product innovation.'
Last month, Bolthouse CEO Jeff Dunn told NPR that Veggie Snackers, priced at $3.99 for a multi-pack, are meant to give kids the same satisfaction as chips like Doritos with their shake-in seasoning.
'They give you that crunch and flavour. You're going to lick your fingers, and get that same sensory [experience] you get with salty snacks,' he said.
This isn't Bolthouse's first attempt at making carrots seem cooler.
In 2010, the company cleverly spoofed the marketing of junk food brands with an explosion-filled 'extreme baby carrot' ad.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
