BACK TO SCHOOL: Refresher course

Do the 'rithmetic. No matter how you add it up, back-to-school merchandising of grocery products is an "easy A" for department and category managers. Product offerings have come a long way from metal pull-top cans of Hunt's Snack Pack puddings and Wax Bottles juice drinks, with just about every major manufacturer from butchers to bakers to applesauce makers getting in on the act.

Hillshire Farm Ultra-Thin Deli Select lunchmeats, Tastykake BackPackSnacks, Mini Moon Pies, Apple & Eve Sesame Street juices, Oreo Cookie Barz, Hershey's Portable Pudding tubes, and Walnut Acres Fruit Squeezies applesauce tubes are just some of the new products that consumers will be seeing in September.

"There's definitely been a greater propensity for marketers to go directly to kids, especially when it comes to food," says Marc Greengrass, director of client services, at Geppetto Group, a New York-based consulting firm specializing in children's marketing. "You're seeing more marketers advertising directly to kids, and back-to-school time gets busier and busier every year. For non-toy makers, back-to-school is when kids get back into their marketing mode."

The vast majority of back-to-school grocery items are purchased for snacks. "Where we grew up on three meals a day, kids today are having five or six meals a day. It is a lot more mini-meals, so snacks are more substantial than what adults were accustomed to," Greengrass says, citing Hot Pockets and Kraft Easy Mac & Cheese as examples.

And since most children today are latchkey kids with either their lone parent or both parents working, they're likely eating dinner at 7 or 8 instead of 5, necessitating more between-meal snacks. Chances are, that between-meal snack will be something "healthy" instead of a sugar-laden treat. "Nutrition and food in the school is talked about a lot more than when we were kids. Kids understand and know the importance of eating well," Greengrass says.

That's why they might reach for a bag of Diamond Glazed Walnuts, which are high in Omega-3 fatty acids and can help reduce cholesterol by 10 percent if consumed daily. The new four-SKU line of flavored walnuts and pecans is being packaged in 16-count 1/2-ounce bags that will be distributed for back-to-school and Halloween. "We'll be running a television commercial that will be tagged and talk about them as a snack," says Michael J. Mendes, president and c.e.o. of Stockton-based Diamond of California. "We originally conceived them as a value-added ice cream and salad topping, but when we did panels people just kept snacking on them in the bowls."

Kids also love to snack on Oreos and Chips Ahoy!, so Kraft has come up with Lunchables Fun Snacks featuring the popular cookies with frosting and candy or chocolate chips. "We introduced our Lunchables Fun Snacks with a custom rack that could be placed on the floor in different areas of the store, and not necessarily on the shelf," says David Borden, director of sales strategy at Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods North America.

Kids on a health kick might also want to nosh on a Kosherbles, a kosher Lunchables-style meal kit in salami, turkey, pizza bagel, bagels & cream cheese with jelly, and PB&J varieties from Funny Bagels Food Co. in Miami that promises to be low in sodium and fat. Older kids might ask their parents to pick up the new Hillshire Farm Ultra-Thin Deli Select lunchmeats that are packaged in Gladware containers. "Consumers want deli quality, but they don't often have time to go back to the deli two or three times a week for their sandwich needs," says Randy Newbold, senior brand manager for the Cincinnati-based Hillshire Farm subsidiary of Sara Lee. The reusable Gladware allows the product to rest in the package without compressing.

Of course, no lunch is complete without a snack. Procter & Gamble has introduced Pringles Snack Stacks, a new multi-pack single-serve offering available in eight-packs of Original and Sour Cream & Onion flavors. In addition to lunch, Snack Stacks are also a hit for mid-morning breaks, after school, and for adults.

Chattanooga Bakery has introduced mini versions of its famous Moon Pies in chocolate, vanilla, and banana flavors. "The mini is nice because it is for moms and kids—it's the perfect size for lunchbox treats," says Michael Scherzer, national account manager for the Tennessee-based firm. As part of Moon Pies' 100th anniversary, the line is being backed with an on-pack sweepstakes offering prizes up to $100, along with a 35-cent on-pack coupon good for a future purchase.

Cool School snacks

Tastykake cupcakes and pies have been a part of lunchboxes since the company's original rectangle-shaped pies were invented for that very purpose in1930. But this year, for the first time, a product—Tastykake BackPackSnacks—has been introduced especially for the back-to-school season. Packed eight to a box, complete with a "Cool School Package" logo, the chocolate cakes have yellow icing and sprinkles. "We clearly feel that any Tastykake is suitable to be in a lunchbox, but why not brand them Cool School BackPackSnacks?" asks Christopher J. Watts, senior business development manager at Philadelphia-based Tasty Baking Co. If well-received, BackPackSnacks could be on the shelves until June—or even longer for those unfortunate souls going to summer school.

Tastykake is also merchandising boxes filled with sleeves of mini-donuts. "That screams, 'Put me in a kid's lunch!'" says Watts. "If a parent opens up a box on Monday, they will stay fresh until Friday because they are individually wrapped."

A key question marketers ask themselves when designing back-to-school products is, "Will it fit into a lunchbox?" says consultant Greengrass. "Today the term 'lunchbox' means any backpack or bag for on-the-go, and a lot more snacks are able to do that—be on-the-go." This year's biggest trend is the snack in a tube. "Tube snacks are more portable and easier for the kids, and also a lot easier for mom to not worry about losing a spoon," he says.

That is part of the reasoning behind Walnut Acres Fruit Squeezies—a new organic applesauce in a tube in Wild Berry and Wild Apple flavors launching this fall in conventional supermarkets in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Portland, Ore., and nationally through the Whole Foods and Wild Oats chains. "Our thought was to bring the most convenient package to the shelf-stable fruit aisle in the format that appeals to both moms and kids," says Mark Rodriguez, president of Acirca, the New Rochelle, N.Y.-based marketer of the Walnut Acres brand. "They don't have to worry about a foil top tearing and the product leaking into their purse or backpack like with traditional fruit cups. There's an added convenience because they fit anywhere, and, most important, we found in our focus groups that kids think the tubes are cool and fun," he says.

Health angle

Walnut Acres expects to get an additional boost because of the health aspect. "We're psyched because our rollout coincides with a new study released in the Journal of the American Dietary Association recommending that kids eat healthier snacks and encouraging parents help teachers by providing healthier, more nutritious snacks," Rodriguez says. "Kids are eating about two snacks a day, and nutritionists say to increase the options of whole-fruit and fruit-based snacks to create a better balance in kids' diets."

As part of the drive to healthier snacks, eating a Kettle Valley Real Fruit Snack a day might just keep the doctor away. For each bar, from Summerland, B.C.-based Kettle Valley Dried Fruits, Ltd., contains the equivalent of a whole peeled, skinless Washington state apple. The bars are available in sour apple, raspberry, tropical, strawberry, and wildberry flavors.

Tubes are also muscling their way into the dairy case. Joining the successful Yoplait Go-Gurt tubes from General Mills are new tube offerings from Kraft, ConAgra, and other players.

Partners in tubes

"At ConAgra we looked at a lot of consumer trends, and we saw that kids really liked the tube form," says Charlene Lee, brand manager, new products, snacks-new directions, for ConAgra Foods Grocery Products Co. in Irvine, Calif.

That is why ConAgra is rolling out Hershey's Portable Pudding and Jolly Rancher Portable Gel Snacks, under a licensing agreement with Hershey Foods Corp. "We're really excited because both of these products have been extremely well-received by consumers in our testing, with high purchase interest and the love of the on-the-go aspect," Lee says.

ConAgra predecessor company Hunt-Wesson invented the portable ready-to-eat pudding category with its Hunt's Snack Pack line, which was originally packaged in 4-ounce steel cans with pull-top lids. "ConAgra has been a pudding innovator. We're continuing that. Look forward to other innovations in the pudding and gels arena from ConAgra," she says.

So many new product introductions are going on in the shelf-stable juice aisle that it's become a circus, with literally something for kiddies of all ages. For preschoolers, Apple & Eve just re-launched its Sesame Street juice line with new packaging, and a new strawberry/ kiwi flavor named after the show's Rosita character, who targets Hispanics. "Sesame Street is all about the inner city/urban feel, so it is a perfect fit to come out with a Hispanic-themed flavor and character to talk to that customer segment," says Jeff Damiano, director of marketing, at Port Washington, N.Y.-based Apple & Eve.

Sesame Street juices are being backed with a promotion based on the "Journey to Ernie" segment of the preschool show. The promotion includes on-pack materials, free-standing inserts, and tie-ins to Apple & Eve's Web site.

Although the juices are branded "Sesame Street," the Apple & Eve logo is shrewdly incorporated into the graphics. "When the child grows out of Sesame Street they are going to recognize Apple & Eve and get into our other packages, which are more for 6- to 8-year-olds, or our new Power Pouch, a 100-percent juice pouch targeting the 8- to 12-year-old set," says marketing v.p. Brad Angevine.

Sparta, Mich.-based Old Orchard Brands has the after-school juice segment covered with its 64-ounce bottles of juices and drinks. Popular with kids as well as adults, the 20-SKU lineup includes apple cherry, apple kiwi strawberry, and apple raspberry.

The trend in the juice aisle has been to come out with different sizes targeting different age groups, says consultant Greengrass. "When the juice boxes came out, they were the coolest things ever. Then pouches came out, which made juice boxes seem younger. Lately we've seen plastic bottles introduced, which now make the pouches target younger kids," he says. "A constant dilemma facing juice marketers is how to stay older. One of the ways they have done that is through size."

To that end, Kraft has expanded the flavors of its 11.25-ounce Capri Sun Big Pouch drinks to include Original Iced Tea, Dragonfruit, and Raspberry Lemonade. Packed in a six-pack box and 24-pack variety assortment, Capri Sun Big Pouch is targeted to teens.

Sales of aseptic juices have taken off over the last two years. "Convenience is such a critical element of busy parents and their lives," says Angevine. "Parents really enjoy the ability to throw single-serve portions in lunchboxes for their kids, and to throw them in knapsacks at soccer games, etc."

But it is really the kids who are driving sales. "Kids are looking for products they know are made for them," says Greengrass. "It makes them feel stronger and more powerful when it is something they know is for them. One of the major themes of childhood is power and control. Kids live in a world where they have very little of that, being told when to go to bed, when to wake up, what to do, what to wear. So anything that helps give them a little more power is something they'll gravitate toward."

Kids are also gravitating to anything sour and intense with flavor. Jel Sert Co. has introduced Fla-Vor-Ice Super Sour, new versions of freezer pops in "super sour" green apple, cherry, lemon, and blue raspberry flavors. "We know convenience and flavor are top priorities for today's consumers," says Ken Wegner, president of Chicago-based Jel Sert.

Kraft is also pushing the flavor envelope with its X-Treme Jell-O gelatins with intense fruit tastes and neon colors that are brighter than a Bill Cosby sweater. X-Treme Jell-O is available in dry packaged, gel cups, and gel sticks in green apple, wild berry, watermelon, and other flavors.