Snack, bakery industry personnel are constantly learning.

Tastykake will bring back its themed on-the-go packaging for football season.

New products include Holiday HoHos and CupCakes, Mint Chocolate Flavored Twinkies, and Hot Chocolate & Marshmallow Flavored Donettes.

The snack cakes join the company's other outside items, including Big Pack Swiss Rolls and Big Pack Oatmeal Creme Pies.

The bakery brand will be rolling out the new variety of its popular cakes in March 2023.

The snack cakes and loaves sector showed great promise over the last 12 months, presumably because consumers are now out and about more, and they want individual servings or on-the-go bakery snacks to fit their busy lifestyles.

The better-for-you brand’s newest products celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary.

The items feature golden cake filled with creme and covered in dark fudge icing.

The quartet of treats comes in heart-bedecked packaging for seasonal snacking.

Consumers are still looking for indulgences, despite the fact that many products now have health halos. However, in our current era of “little treat culture,” the bakery snacks category—aka smaller servings of snack cakes and pies—continue to be popular.

Better-for-you options and innovative flavors have been a large part of the overall snack industry. Now, they’re making their way into the extruded snacks segment.

Innovations in extrusion technology, ingredients and product R&D have built new interest in multiple snack segments.

Puffed and extruded snacks are shedding their junk-food image with more nutritious ingredients and no-fry processing, plus on-trend flavors, textures and shapes to add more fun.

Consumer demand for artisanal baked goods and better-for-you snacks are making new laminators and sheeters must-have equipment for many manufacturers.

Growing consumer demand for better-for-you, gluten-free and innovative baked goods and snacks continues to drive bakers and snack manufacturers to explore new ingredients and formulations. It’s also prompting them to re-examine their equipment needs, as they discover that their existing machinery may not be able to efficiently handle today’s in-demand products. For some manufacturers, a new extruder may be just the ticket.

The puffed and extruded snack segment combines the best elements of tradition and forward-thinking better-for-you innovation.

The collective puffed, popped, pellet and extruded snack segment continues to see positive sales activity and a strong level of product innovation.

Snack manufacturers are looking to build in healthfulness through the use of raw materials, including vegetables and fruit, as well as cleaner ingredient profiles with more protein and fiber.

SNAXPO18, taking place March 12-14 in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center, is a must-attend event for anyone working in today’s snack food industry.

Customers of machines that handle puffing and extruding of snack and bakery products are focused on accommodating protein- and plant-based inclusions, hygienic design and rapid cleaning, speed and quick changeovers, better integrated controls, easy data extraction, and smaller machines that can produce specialized batches.

Flexibility, greater sanitation, gentle handling of ingredients, quicker changeovers, more precise weight control, and the ability to make products with healthier ingredients are top of mind features and benefits for snack and bakery customers of extrusion equipment and technology.

The bakery snacks category overall experienced an increase in sales in 2021, the possible reason for that being that consumers are now returning to the office and want on-the-go snacks to keep them company at their desks. 

Muffin brand rereleases limited-edition flavor for spring and summer snacking.

Upcoming film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse themed packaging will be on select Tastykake items in conjunction with a National “Swing into Tastykake” Sweepstakes.

Americans of a certain age likely associate bakery snacks with lunchboxes, unwrapped and enjoyed at school, near the tail end of their midday meal. 

Available now through July at most retailers, the muffins are made with real ingredients like cinnamon and maple syrup, and no high fructose corn syrup or trans fat. 

The new muffin varieties feature less sugar plus real ingredients like apple and chocolate, and a touch of hidden vegetables.

Munk Pack’s line of innovative Protein Cookies line took away top honors in this year's ‘Best Healthy School Snacks’ contest.

The idea of "better for you" encompasses much of what consumers desire today in many of their snacks and baked goods: clean label, non-GMO, natural and—at its core—solid nutrition to make those foods a healthy part of their daily diet.

Consumers are reading labels more, looking for products that are nutritious, with ingredients that are easy to understand and that work with their family's budget. While there's no official definition of "clean label," consumers and the snack and bakery industry have their own definition in mind.

Grains are fundamental ingredients in snacks and baked goods, providing function, flavor, texture and nutrition. Grains are classified as either whole grains or refined grains.

Consumers want to achieve better overall health and wellness, and adding more dietary protein and fiber helps. FDA defines dietary fiber as "certain naturally occurring fibers that are 'intrinsic and intact' in plants, and added isolated or synthetic non-digestible soluble and insoluble carbohydrates that FDA has determined have beneficial physiological effects to human health."

There's a reason why better-for-you is trending and "perfect-for-you" isn't. According to the August 2018 "U.S. Better for You Eating Trends" market report from Mintel, just 7 percent of consumers say they're strict with themselves to make sure their diet is as healthy as possible, and just three in 10 say they maintain a healthy diet most of the time.

While taste will remain a dominant factor for all food products, health, wellness and the nutritional value of the product is growing in importance. Several studies point to the fact that consumers are looking to achieve better overall wellness by selecting foods and ingredients that provide a functional health benefit.

Ingredion Incorporated has launched a dietary fiber in the U.S.—NOVELOSE 3490.

There was a time, not so long ago, when nutritional boundaries were more clear-cut. "Indulgent foods weren't healthy," says Mel Festejo, COO, American Key Food Products, Closter, NJ. "They either had a surfeit of nutrients that triggered health issues, or they contained ingredients whose names raised anxiety."

Grains are a fundamental ingredient in snack food and bakery products and an important food in consumer diets. In fact, based on the 2020 IFIC Food and Health Survey, consumers view fiber, whole grains, and protein from plants as the healthiest, and most-sought-after, nutrients. 

Consumer interest in foods that support holistic health and well-being is increasing. According to the 2020 IFIC Food and Health Survey, over half of consumers report that healthfulness has more of an impact today versus 10 years ago on their food and beverage purchase decisions.

The pandemic has heightened consumers' interest in health and well-being. According to the 2021 IFIC Food and Health Survey, 58 percent of respondents stated that healthfulness had an impact on their food and beverage decisions.

The right oven is the heart of any baked snack or bakery facility, and suppliers continue to make improvements to their equipment. Aspects like smaller footprints, lower costs, more hygienic design, greater energy efficiency, better control, remote monitoring and an ability to handle a wider range of ingredients are all facing scrutiny.

This month’s digital edition features a range of in-depth features and industry news.

Sargento Foods is continuing to innovate the refrigerated snack kit category with the launch of Sargento® Sunrise Balanced Breaks®.

The puffed and extruded snacks category has grown-up, and the market is seeing some diverse company.

It's safe to say COVID-19 has made its mark on the food industry. People are cooking more at home than they used to.

Salty snacks like chips, popcorn, pretzels, and snack crackers have long been a staple in the home, and have become even more essential now during the coronavirus pandemic.

Good Health, a member of the Utz Quality Foods family of brands, is launching Good Health Organic with the introduction of Baked Cheese Puffs and Baked Cheese Fries!

The demand for keto products continues to grow, with Instacart reporting a 72 percent increase across grocery partners in year-over-year sales of products with "keto" in the name.

This January, The Laughing Cow is unveiling The Laughing Cow & Go portable cups.

From Mozzarella Submarines to Pretzel Swords, Lunchables debuts Dunkables, its second foray into the snack category.

Hostess reintroduces fan-favorite seasonal snacks and new Halloween packs to level up trick-or-treating.