Snap Infusion Tarts and Gum

Functional foods are an interesting bunch.  They are foods with added stuff that are intended to have a positive effect on your health:

• More vitamins into your water (Vitamin Water).
• More veggies in your drinks (V8).
• More vitamins and stuff in your cereal … Total Raisin Bran.

Enter Andover, Massachusetts based Snap Infusion, a company with a mission of making healthy candy from gummies to gum to tarts to chocolate balls (did someone say Milk Duds).

Back in the 80’s and 90’s I remember Gator Gum tried to do the same thing as a brand – take their functional formula for quenching thirst and apply it to gum.  It failed pretty bad – maybe it had something to do with the commercials? I also remember the gum tasting like Sour Patch Kids. Ewwww.

Can Snap Infusion do better than Gator Gum?

Their CEO came from the sports marketing world and seems to have found the right designers for their great product and website.  Maybe they’ll hit Payday?

They describe their brand as:

• SUPER NATURAL:   SNAP contains natural flavors, colors and ingredients, such as tapioca syrup, evaporated cane juice and palm kernel oil.
• SUPER ENERGY:  One pack of SNAP contains an excellent source of the daily value of Thiamin(B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin (B3), Pantothenic Acid (B5), B6, and B12. These B vitamins help turn sugar into energy and help your body burn carbohydrates and fat.
• SUPER PROTECTION: A pack of SNAP contains an excellent source of the daily value of Vitamin C and E – antioxidants that support your immune system and protect your muscles and cells against oxidative damage. Each pack of SNAP Gum and SNAP Tarts contain Xylitol, which has clinically proven dental benefits.
• SUPER BALANCE:  Each pack of SNAP contains Potassium, Calcium, and Phosphorus – electrolytes that help maintain fluid balance in your body.
• SUPER LIGHT: SNAP has less than half the calories of regular candy and contains absolutely no trans fats, hydrogenated oils or high-fructose corn syrup.

Pretty decent sounding, right? Their marketing and copywriting is certainly Good and Plenty.    They aren’t hiring Dum Dums or Jolly Ranchers to market Whatchamacallits.

I was sent the SNAP Tart and the SNAP Gum.

SNAP Tart

Cool.  These taste like Sweet Tarts made with with only good stuff and supplemented with vitamins, antioxidants, and electrolytes.   I can give them to my Runts.
They taste great with no weird aftertaste, so I guess the only questions I have would be:

• Can I see the ingredients list somewhere?  It’s nice to call out all the bad stuff, but people still want to see the full list.    One thing to keep in mind is that Xylitol is harmful for pets, so don’t go dropping these on the floor – another reason it would be nice to call out the ingredients in a clearer fashion.
• Are these more like vitamins than a candy substitute?   I’m not up on my scientific journal reading, but I thought too much vitamins can be a bad thing.  They are just so tasty I could imagine someone popping these back all day.  Guess it’s better than popping back Skittles all day.  (… the author Snickers)

SNAP Gum

How it’s marketed:

“Citrus – You could climb an entire mountain while chewing our Gum and have enough energy left to blow a celebratory bubble at the summit. Each piece is packed with a SNAP-ton of citrus flavor that lasts beyond your tongue’s wildest dreams. Yes, your tongue has dreams.”

Nice.

Well if you’ve ever have a major health kick and gotten into the gym and some of the protein powder and whatnot, you’ll probably love this gum.  The first bite has that weird protein-y kind of “this is going to pump me up”  flavor to it, and after a few bites it settles into a normal citrus gum flavor.  I thought the gum’s taste was pretty good – a little bit like a mix of protein powder and a traditional piece of gum.

Somehow I thought all of this stuff would be pricey, but it’s not so bad.    I broke down the cost.   12 packs of gum = 23.88 … each pack is $1.99… Each pack has 34 pieces so it’s about 5.8 cents a piece – which isn’t too bad  and they are offering limited-time free shipping – if you like gum and natural products, I say why not try it.  It’s a bit more than regular gum, but it’s a bit healthier.

I think this company’s biggest challenge is going to be identifying their real target market. It seems like most athletes have enough self-control to avoid candy and for non-athletes who want candy, they probably want real candy like my favorite: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Will they sell this to sports fanatics, dodge ball players, skateboarders, energy drink lovers and – are people willing to spend a bit more $ to get healthy candy.  They should!

Website:

http://www.eatplaysnap.com/

Brian Henderson

Site Editor, BBQ Sauce Lover, Family Guy, Hi Tech Marketer by Day. He recently wrote the Ebook “How to Market Your BBQ Sauce” which can be purchased on this site.