As the debate on what will be the next viral sandwich, drink or other snack rages on, the creator of the Oreo cookie is taking matters into its own hands and investing in 10 startups that could help set the next trends — companies selected for Mondelez International (MDLZ)'s startup engagement select program are making mushroom jerky, West African chips, and popcorn made by people with autism.
These Startups Are Hoping To Make The Next Viral Snack Trend
In the second year of its SnackFutures hub program, Mondelez chose 10 food startups for a 12-week mentorship program and $20,000 grant to continue making what could become the next popular snack.
Startups selected by Mondelez include banana bread makers Morgan Lerner and Annie Slabotsky (GoNanas), carbon-neutral crackers from Moonshot and Popcorn for the People, which employs over 50 people with autism and other special needs to make gourmet popcorn.
Sustainability through animal-product alternatives is another key theme this year as other products include an oat-based spread from Oat Haus and a mushroom jerky from Pan’s. Other startups include Bunny James Boxes, Every Body Eat, Nunbelievable, Wonder Monday and Yolélé.
"We are thrilled to have another CoLab class that can benefit from our expertise and help us look at innovation from the 'outside in' to create a snacking world that is good for people, kind to the planet and deliciously fun," Brigette Wolf, global head of SnackFutures at Mondelez International, said in a statement.
Pressure To Find The Next Big Viral Snack Is High
This marks the second year of Mondelez's SnackFutures project — while none of the startups selected in 2021 are yet to become household names, Numa's Asian-style taffy has been picked up by Macy's (M) while the vegan treats from Better Bites are currently sold at Target (TGT).
The pressure to find the next big trend is understandably huge — the market for easy-to-eat snack foods is projected to reach $732.6 billion by 2026, according to a report from Reportlinker.com.
Snacks, so far, have not seen the kind of explosion seen with canned coffee or cocktails. The latter market grew by 50% between 2019 and 2020, according to data from industry watchdog IWSR.
Demand for fun and crunchy things, however, is definitely there. Chicago-based research firm IRI Worldwide found that 54% of consumers want indulgent (in other words, calories be damned) snacks while another 53% is looking for something healthy when choosing snacks.
