Better-for-you shouldn’t mean sacrificing taste, fun or convenience, and the Hain Celestial Group is focused on bringing this mission to life through its portfolio of great-tasting, better-for-you snacks. Here, Katrina Borisjuk, Hain’s general manager of Snacks & Beverages, takes time to talk about the new “YUMbelievably Delicious” campaign from fan-favorite Garden Veggie Snacks™ and its goal to connect families through everyday moments of fun, while delivering better-for-you snacks that are kid-loved and parent-approved. Together with initiatives like the company’s “Savor Your Summer” retail program, it’s helping Hain become “first to mind and first to find” in the better-for-you snack space.
What was the motivation behind the creation of the “YUMbelievably Delicious” brand campaign?
“YUMbelievably Delicious” is the first national, masterbrand campaign from Garden Veggie Snacks™; it features a portfolio of our craveable, better-for-you snacks in creative assets for the first time.
It was inspired not only by the brand’s great-tasting snacks and veggie ingredients but also by the exciting opportunity we have to drive a deeper emotional connection with families that are making snacking a regular part of their busy lifestyles. More than half of U.S. parents are looking for better-for-you snacks their kids will actually eat¹, but many worry they will lack the great taste and fun experience of something more conventional. With our YUMbelievably Delicious campaign, we’re excited to show them that you can have a great-tasting, better-for-you snack and have fun with it too.
How does “YUMbelievably Delicious” advance Garden Veggie Snacks’ goal of connecting families to everyday moments of fun while staying true to its commitment of providing better-for-you snack options?
Take one look at the new YUMbelievably Delicious creative, and you will feel the sense of joy and playfulness that was our goal in this campaign.
The campaign creatively prompts snackers and families to ignite their imaginations with every bite of Garden Veggie Snacks. In the brand’s veggie-verse of boundless possibility, you can hop a ride on a tomato-guided hot air balloon, tear across the sky on a flavor-packed Flavor Burst™ tortilla chip or skip through the garden with a cluster of perfectly light and airy puffs.
Most consumers know us for our flagship product, Garden Veggie Straws®, and they certainly play a prominent role in the new creative. But we also wanted to feature some of our lesser-known products, like our Garden Veggie™ Puffs, which are growing double digits², and our new Garden Veggie™ Flavor Burst™ tortilla chips, which launched in February and are the #1 new product launch in the better-for-you snack category in 2024³.
We set out to make snack time with each of our products an exciting, tasty adventure for kids – and kids at heart. We can’t wait to see the response.
How does this new campaign support Hain’s new Reimagined strategy?
An important aspect of our company’s multi-year transformation under Hain Reimagined is the commitment to investing in our growth brands, of which Garden Veggie Snacks is the largest in the portfolio. Strengthening our brand-building capabilities and enhancing our marketing efforts to connect with more consumers are key drivers of long-term sustainable growth. The launch of our always-on, YUMbelievably Delicious campaign is an exciting step forward on this journey here in North America.
Are you finding consumers have shown increasing interest in better-for-you snacks over the last five years? If so, how is Hain innovating to keep up with consumers’ changing tastes and demand for flavor in BFY options?
Absolutely. Where in the past snacking was viewed as something to be restricted, it is now a regular part of consumers’ busy lifestyles, and we see more and more people seeking better-for-you snack options in their pantry’s repertoire. This trend towards better-for-you snacking is only expected to continue as we see a continuing macro trend towards snackification of meals and increased eating on-the-go.
Our vision at Hain is to be a global growth leader of better-for-you brands, and that means being consumer-obsessed as we innovate and build our brands. The purposeful creative choices made in the new YUMbelievably Delicious campaign – highlighting craveable taste and fun over sensibility – is a prime example of that. So, too, is our Garden Veggie™ Flavor Burst™ innovation, which answers an unmet category need for a better-for-you seasoned tortilla chip with bold, flavor bursting crunch.
How does this campaign fit with Hain’s recently introduced “Savor Your Summer” activation? How does the summer season support better-for-you snacking?
Both our Savor Your Summer retail activation – which highlights multiple snack brands within Hain’s portfolio – and Garden Veggie’s new brand campaign are examples of our intent to continually enhance our messaging and retail presence to ensure we’re “first to mind and first to find” every day.
Snacking is highly relevant during the summer months, and our Savor Your Summer scale activation ensures consumers can easily find plenty of delicious, better-for-you snack options, in addition to the conventional snack brands they’re used to seeing on display during this season. Many of our strategic retail partners have supported this program with increased merchandising, and we’re thrilled to see strong share growth of our brands as a result.
What can retailers do to partner with Hain to promote these campaigns and products, and how is Hain currently integrating retailers into these new campaigns?
We had a great experience collaborating with strategic retail partners as we launched Savor Your Summer this year. We’re gearing up to have more of these collaborative planning conversations with longer lead times as we head into 2025 with this exciting, new brand campaign for Garden Veggie Snacks and additional seasonal scale programs for our better-for-you snack portfolio.
Key to our mutual success is a shared commitment to understanding the needs of our consumers and thinking innovatively about our communications across channels – online, in-store, through advertising and activation – to best meet those needs. In close and strategic partnership with our retailers, we see nothing but opportunity ahead in the better-for-you snack landscape.
1Mintel Better For You Snacking 2024
2SPINS, Total US-Multi Outlet, L52W ended 7/14/24, NPI SS Chips & Pretzels & Snacks, Dollar Sales
3SPINS, Total US-Multi Outlet, YTD Data Ending 6.16.2024, NPI SS Chips & Pretzels & Snacks, Dollar Sales
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