Fun with Fruit

Golden West Food Group, Vernon, Calif., partnered with The Hershey Company on a line of four chocolate-covered frozen fruit treats.

Varieties include REESE’S Frozen Fruit Banana Slices, HERSHEY’S COOKIES ‘N’ CREME Frozen Fruit Strawberries, HERSHEY’S White Creme & Milk Chocolate Frozen Fruit Blueberries, and HERSHEY’S White Creme & Milk Chocolate Frozen Fruit Raspberries. The products debuted in late 2023 at Walmart stores nationwide.

Seasonal Offering

Aspire Bakeries, Los Angeles, greeted the holidays with two limited-edition artisan breads under the La Brea Bakery brand: a Cranberry Walnut Loaf and Take & Bake Savory Holiday Rolls. The breads debuted in October at select grocery stores across the nation including select Kroger, Safeway and Albertsons.

“Every bite of La Brea Bakery Cranberry Walnut Loaf or Take & Bake Holiday Savory Rolls evokes a sense of nostalgia, elevating every holiday meal,” said Brie Buenning, Director of Marketing, Aspire Bakeries. “We are excited to bring these limited-edition artisan breads back to holiday tables across the country this season.”

Healthy Options

General Mills, Minneapolis, said it extended its Nature Valley line to “give consumers a greater number of healthy eating options ahead of the new year and resolution-making season.” Joining the line are Protein Smoothie Bars Berry Blend, Double Chocolate Chip Soft-Baked Muffin Bars, and Soft Baked Oat Bars.

Officials said Nature Valley Protein Smoothie Bars Berry Blend “combine the ingredients normally associated with a freshly made smoothie—but without the need for a blender.” Each serving contains 10g of protein, and ingredients include yogurt, dried fruit, and nuts, dipped in yogurt. The bars debuted in Januiary for a suggested five-pack retail price of $5.99 in Kroger, ADUSA, and Albertsons.

Planet Friendly

Wildway LLC, San Antonio, Texas, said it built a regenerative agriculture supply chain to support its launch of Planet Friendly Oats.

The oats come in four flavors: Original, Raspberry Chia, Maple Coconut Sugar, and Banana Nut and debuted in late October at Whole Foods Markets in the Northeast and Southern California (in addition to Wildway’s website). Ingredients include a blend of organic oats, organic real fruit, and organic coconut sugar.

Sweet Treats

Last fall saw That’s it Nutrition, Los Angeles, say that Target stores would carry two new offering: That's it. Probiotic Minis in Blueberry and UNSTUCK co-branded Mango flavors; and Dark Chocolate Truffles in Fig and Banana flavors.

That's it. Probiotic Minis feature only fruit and probiotics as an on-the-go snack to improve digestion and gut health. The Mango flavor is a collaboration with UNSTUCK, an organization that helps brands source materials and ingredients from suppliers hiring refugees. That's it. Dark Chocolate Truffles are 100% vegan and made with organic dark chocolate and fruit. Each truffle contains just 33 calories or less, with only 1g of added sugar.

Seasonal Sweets

This fall saw Chocolove, Boulder, Colo., return with seasonal favorites, Tree-Shaped Bites, as well as holiday collection bars. Chocolove holiday collection bars include Candy Cane Crunch in Dark Chocolate, Frosted Gingerbread in Milk Chocolate, and a Fruit-Nut Medley in Dark Chocolate. The latter offering features 55% dark chocolate, dried currants and cherries, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, orange peel and ginger for a “bar that is sweet, savory, chewy and crunchy all at the same time,” the company says.

Chocolove bars and bites are made with traceable cocoa beans; Rainforest Alliance Certified, and Non GMO Project Verified. The tree bites and holiday collection bars were available at Sprouts, Albertsons, Raley's Supermarket, Whole Foods Market, Natural Grocers, New Seasons Market, Thrive Market, Amazon and Chocolove.com.

New Name on Shelf

Refrigerated natural cookie dough maker Sweet Loren's Inc., New York, N.Y., branched into the shelf-stable cookie aisle with three gluten-free Breakfast Biscuits: Blueberry, Cinnamon Sugar, and Chocolate.

Each offers 19g of whole grains, 4g of protein, 3g of fiber, and five B vitamins in a serving. In particular, the Blueberry variety also contains dried blueberry pieces. The Breakfast Biscuits also are plant based, non-GMO Project Verified, dairy free, and peanut and tree nut free. They’re sold in the cookie aisle at Whole Foods Market nationwide and will be at Amazon.

Raise the Bar

Aloha, Littleton, Colo., extended its line of organic, plant-based protein bars with a Raspberry White Chocolate variety in mid-December. The bar is sold through Whole Foods Market, Fresh Thyme, and other brick-and-mortar retailers, in addition to Amazon and the company’s site.

The nut-free bar is made with sunflower butter, organic dried raspberries, and white chocolate. The 14g of protein comes from brown rice and pumpkin seeds; the bars also contain 10g of fiber. All bars are free from gluten, dairy, soy, stevia, and sugar alcohol sweeteners.