LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Snack it Forward has announced the official nationwide launch of Peatos™ under its flagship World Peas™ Brand. Peatos™ is a crunchy puffed snack that brings together the best of two worlds – “junk snack” style taste, texture, and visual appearance with two times the protein (4g) and three times the fiber (3g) of Cheetos® -- and boasts clean non-GMO ingredients with no artificial colors, flavors or MSG. Peatos™ can be found in the produce section and is currently available at Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons—and is proud to announce the latest retail partners, Kroger, Safeway and Amazon all going live in 2018. Peatos™ boasts striking but familiar flavors like Classic Cheese, Fiery Hot, Chili Cheese, and Masala.
The makers of Peatos™, World Peas™, are on a mission to revolutionize the $28 billion junk snack market with a simple but powerful concept: create better junk food by replacing the empty calorie corn or potato base with nutrient-dense pulses packed with plant-based protein and fiber.
“Peatos™ is going against the billion-dollar traditional ‘junk snack' brands head-to-head on: taste, mass market appeal, and price points -- while offering better nutritional characteristics,” said Nick Desai, CEO of Snack it Forward/World Peas. “We are seeing outstanding conversion rates of more than 40 percent at live product demos we conduct in stores. Several national retailers are going live in 2018, with some also requesting to put the snack in front of check-out stands.”
Meet us at Natural Products Expo West
This spring, Peatos™ is making its official debut at Natural Products Expo West March 7-11 (booth #8609, World Peas). The expo is the world's largest natural, organic and healthy products event, hosting more than 80,000 delegates, including industry pioneers and a new generation of innovators shaping the future of healthy products.
The Power of Pulses
Pulses, commonly known as peas, lentils and beans, are a significant source of non-GMO plant-based protein and fiber. Snack it Forward was inspired by the fact that pulses are already a huge source of protein in some of the largest populations in the world. By making Peatos™ taste, look, and feel like “junk snacks,” and offering them at attractive price points, Peatos™ aims to help 90 percent of Americans eat better, and not just the 10 percent that shop in the high-end natural channel, added Desai.
A Retail Revolution
The market is currently divided into popular “junk snacks,” like Cheetos®, Doritos® and Takis® and the newer, cleaner ingredient snacks that don’t offer the flavor or the velocity.
“If you look at the $4 billion puffed snack category, you find the dominant player Cheetos® on one end bursting with taste and mass market appeal, but full of empty calories, and a variety of smaller, niche better-for-you brands with poor taste and limited market potential on the other end. Peatos™ gives you the best of both worlds,” added Desai.
As more conventional retailers continue to make a strong push into better-for-you eating and channels continue to converge, a new paradigm is needed. Retailers like Walmart, Kroger, and Albertsons need products that boast better-for-you attributes that will appeal to a broad consumer base. With taste and cost still by far the two biggest purchase drivers in snacks, World Peas™ has created something that can give traditional “junk snacks” a real challenge.
Brains Behind the Better-For-You Business
Snack it Forward assembled some of the brightest minds in snack manufacturing and spent the last several years developing proprietary technology that it uses to extrude non-GMO pulses, high in protein and fiber. Snacks like Cheetos® are made with a GMO corn base using a process called extrusion. The extrusion process is quirky and responds best to starch -- empty calories abundant in corn and potatoes.
“I personally love Cheetos®, but I know I cannot and should not eat them anymore. Cheetos® have not changed much in 50 years, while the world has changed dramatically. It is not crazy to think that we may soon find that corny Cheetah on the endangered species list,” added Desai. “Peatos™ delivers everything, right down to that finger-licking orange!”
ABOUT SNACK IT FORWARD | WORLD PEAS | PEATOS
Snack it Forward creates great tasting real fruit and vegetable snacks through a portfolio of brands which includes World Peas™ and the popular Sunkist® Snacks. World Peas™, is revolutionizing snacking by creating better-for-you “junk food”. World Peas™ Peatos™, are a new twist on an American classic, with 4 grams of plant-based protein and 3 grams of fiber per flavorful crunchy serving. Peatos™ are part of the World Peas portfolio of crunchy, bold, spectacular tasting snacks that replace empty-calorie corn with nutrient dense pulses: think peas, lentils and beans…aimed to Unjunk Your Snack. World Peas™ is obsessively focused on making snacks that taste great and make you forget you are eating better. To learn more about Snack It Forward, and their snacking mission, visit www.snackitforward.com.
