How to Take a Bite Out of a Competitive Food Category
Category disruption is a coveted industry goal, especially when there has been a legacy of stagnation in a market. Organizations are having to meet the increased customer demand for innovative flavors and styles. How do you begin to create disruption in a food category? Listen closely to the consumer market, keep it simple, and get adventurously creative.
Beef jerky used to bring to mind gas station food or WWE fighters. The thought of Slim Jims make people who lived through the 90’s cringe to think about its artificial flavors. Nowadays, thanks to KRAVE Jerky and their sophisticated ingredients like mango and jalapeno, beef jerky is now being thought of as a premium fitness food. KRAVE set out on a mission to make beef jerky delicious and healthy. Their dedication to being all natural, minimally processed, no artificial ingredients added, and whole-muscle cut meats are undoubtedly their secret to success.
They care about the difference their process makes, and their consumers can clearly taste it. The founder of KRAVE Pure Foods, Jon Sebastiani, came up with the idea to make the world’s most delicious and nutritious jerky while he was preparing for the New York Marathon in 2010. Sebastiani wanted to reimagine jerky, from being on a gas station shelf, to being on a shelf in the grocery aisle cozied up to the other healthy snacks. This simple mission to upgrade traditional gas station jerky to artisanal jerky was enough to disrupt this snack category.
Healthfulness also inspired Dave and Jenn Bacon to create a category disruption in the quick breakfast industry. In 2012, FlapJacked debuted a classic breakfast staple, pancakes, but in a protein-packed, easy to make version. David and Jenn’s family need healthy options for young, picky eaters. Trying to improve on a classic, Jenn began using protein powder in pancakes. When she realized that she was adding junk to junk, she decided to dive deeper into how to make a healthier pancake.
Jenn and Dave select only the best and healthiest ingredients to create their products. They are committed to maintaining as many nutritional qualities as possible, which is why they stick to pure, minimally processed ingredients. FlapJacked has incorporated Seawind Foods’ Carrot and Pumpkin ingredients and combined them with probiotics and superfoods to make delicious, innovative products while upholding the highest of standards. Jenn and Dave spend months at a time developing their different flavors and products to make sure they are just right. Because of their creative outlook and innovative methods, FlapJacked introduced a quick breakfast category disruptor that changed the way people think about healthy breakfast options.
KRAVE and FlapJacked both disrupted their categories and added innovative ingredients to their products. Seawind Foods is proud to supply organic, minimally processed, non-GMO, True NO SO2TM, and Kosher ingredients so that companies can create the best products possible. As innovations in food continue to develop, these companies are blazing their own trails through stagnant categories and reinventing them.
