Hormel Foods has rolled out a new snack, a meat-cheese-and-sweet item under its Natural Choice meats brand.
The Austin, Minn.-based company branched off into snacking — a hot consumer trend — in 2013 with sandwiches and wraps, and followed that up in 2015 with peanut butter snacks under the Skippy label.
Hormel formally unveiled its Natural Choice snacks Tuesday, though they have been in some stores since May. Hormel's preservative-free Natural Choice line, which debuted in 2005, includes deli meats, bacon and Canadian bacon.
The Natural Choice snacks come in four varieties, each in 2-ounce packs containing ham, turkey or chicken paired with white Cheddar cheese and either pretzels, almonds or blueberries covered in chocolate. Their retail price is $1.50 to $2.00.
Andrew Quinn, a Hormel brand manager, said the new Natural Choice snack line is "complementary" to Hormel's Rev snacks, which are meat and cheese sandwiches and wraps. About a year ago, Hormel also launched Rev Bites, mini-sandwiches that come four to a pack.
"Rev has been a great line for us and we felt that, based on consumer trends, Natural is a great expansion line," Quinn said.
Hormel also seems to have done well with Skippy P.B. Bites. However, Spam Snacks, a dried, bite-sized version of its classic Spam, survived less than a year.
Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003
