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Snacking Can Be Part of a Healthy Life

By Robin Mather

As a busy mother of three herself, Joy Bauer definitely understands the grab-and-go lifestyle, and why so many parents reach for snacks to satisfy their children and themselves between meals.

“I think everyone is so overscheduled and juggling so many things in their lives that they’re often not sitting down to eat traditional meals anymore,” Bauer says. “So grab-and-go snacks that actually provide nutritive benefits to your body and give you quality energy have become super, super important.”

Bauer thinks about these issues a lot. She’s a registered dietitian, the nutrition and health expert for NBC’s “Today Show,” a monthly columnist for Woman’s Day magazine and the official nutritionist for the New York City Ballet. She’s written 12 best-selling books — the most recent, “From Junk Food to Joy Food: All the Foods You Love to Eat…Only Better,” published last year — and was the Director of Nutrition and Fitness for the Department of Pediatric Cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, New York. She’s also the founder of Nourish Snacks, a line of sensibly indulgent granola bites in five flavors — Blueberry Apple, Chocolate Banana, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Double Chocolate and Coconut Vanilla.

Knowing what your customers are looking for is a big factor in making wise retail decisions, Bauer says.

“A key to success is to make the healthy food snacks area look inviting — clean, well-organized,” she says. “People are going to mosey right on over, if it looks enticing. Use good signage, circulars and shelf talkers to draw your customers’ attention to the healthier option snacks you offer.”

Customers have become much more informed about health, she says. They know what they’re looking for, and you can help them find it.

“I always say there are three golden rules for a snack: It should be no more than 200 calories — that’s the sweet spot where hunger is satisfied but your appetite isn’t ruined. It needs to be made with whole, nourishing, quality, nutrient-rich ingredients. And it has to be delicious, something that makes your customer happy and satisfies their cravings.”

There are wonderful, real food snacking options, Bauer says. “You can couple peanut butter with an apple, or turkey slices wrapped around bell pepper strips to dip into spicy mustard.”

Logically, however, retailers want their customers to reach for the packaged snacks,  too. Bauer has some thoughts on that.

“The iconic snacks like chips and cookies — customers who want that stuff will find it, so there’s no need to waste the front and center space on these items. It’s the newer, healthier stuff that has never been seen or tasted before that should be most visible. Think of it as helping to fuel your customers with beneficial nourishment.“

Oftentimes, Bauer says, retailers will do a test, putting healthy snacks out in easy customer view. “But they don’t always give it a fair shot — they decide it’s not working before it’s had a chance to do so. Retailers have to decide that they’re going to make a positive statement, or lead an initiative, for their customers’ benefit.”

Retailers should listen when customers ask about healthy snack products, she says. “Health takes center stage in the mainstream magazines, online publications, all over the place. Health is hot right now. Customers are seeing healthy snacks everywhere, and are asking about them.”

Understanding customers’ is obviously important, Bauer says.

“Take moms for example. They rank their kids as top priority, and health is super important,” Bauer says. “If a mom is going into a store to buy milk and she sees healthy snacks, that’s going to be a logical add-on purchase for her.”

Understanding Hot Trends in Snacking

Two of the hottest topics in snacking right now are protein and sugar. Everyone’s talking about the protein trend in snacking, Bauer says.

“Protein is important because it helps sustain your blood sugar and satisfies your hunger,” Bauer says. “But a lot of people are getting too much of it — you need about half of your body weight in grams. If all you’re doing is snacking, then yes, protein is something to look for. But most people are eating protein with at least one meal a day — eggs at breakfast, or a turkey sandwich at lunch.” Because that’s true, high protein snacks aren’t needed as much.

“If you are somebody who’s skimping on meals completely, it’s as easy to grab a Greek yogurt and a piece of fruit as it is a protein bar, but both are good choices. Plant-based protein is becoming more and more prevalent, and that’s great. It’s good for the environment and it’s great for your body. But I don’t think protein is the end-all for snacking.”

As for sugar, well, we’re all aware that our sugar consumption is out of control, says Bauer. Americans are eating far too much sugar — the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the average American consumes 19.5 teaspoons of sugar every day, or about 66 pounds of added sugar every year, per person. That’s more than 13 five-pound bags of sugar a year.

While the U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend 5 to 15 percent of calories a day in “discretionary calories,” including both sugar and fat, children and teens are getting about 16 percent of their total caloric intake from added sugars alone.

“Sugar is certainly villainized right now,” Bauer says. “But the answer is not to turn to artificial and fake sugars. You can help your customers by giving them a chance to choose lower-sugar, better-for-you snacks.”

Remember, she says, “Health is a huge priority for a majority of the population — and it’s not just about diets and losing weight. People know that eating the right foods, in the right combinations, has lots of positive health effects…. In a world where so much seems out of control, our food choices are most certainly within our control.”