Caffeinated Snacks

The need for speed has jumped out of the mug and onto the snack shelf.

By
Joanna Cosgrove
Online Editor

A cup of coffee or tea might give most folks just enough oomph to get through the day, but a new snack market niche has opened up for those who aren’t teetotalers or java fans. Students, athletes and even average consumers are reaching for caffeinated chips, candies and even sunflower seeds to get the extra energy that will get their day started with a jolt or to overcome the dreaded mid-day slump.

One of the most recent caffeinated snack brands to burst onto the market is Engobi, a NY-based marketer whose caffeine-infused Energy Go Bites are dubbed “the love child of caffeine and snack chips.” Launched in April, Energy Go Bites are available in “deliciously perky” Cinnamon Surge and Lemon Lift flavors. Formulated by Rudolph Foods, a 1.5-ounce, single-serving bag contains approximately 140 mg of caffeine—which is roughly the same as a cup of brewed coffee and significantly more than the market’s leading energy drinks. The snacks are distributed through convenience and select grocery stores nationwide and bear a manufacturer’s suggested price of $1.29 per bag.

In a market saturated with energy beverages, Engobi’s Mark Singleton, vice president of sales, said that surveys focused on consumer wants and demands led his company to develop its munchable energy products. “From concept to launch, it took about a year to bring Engobi to market,” he commented. “Our only issue in formulating a product with 140 mg of caffeine was developing the right initial flavor mix, and creating a delivery mechanism that ensured a steady, reliable, measured amount of caffeine per chip and per serving—but our longtime experience in snack creation allowed us to overcome these challenges quickly, and Engobi is the result.”

Mr. Singleton added that the snack’s target consumer is “Everybody, but specifically twenty-somethings and gamers. We’ve been pleasantly surprised, though, by how broad the uptake of Engobi is proving to be. New mothers are particularly enthusiastic about Engobi.”

Later this year the company plans to introduce “some new savory flavors” to its existing lineup, and even longer range goals have the company moving “beyond standard savory chip flavors.”

Caffeinated Confections

The boost imparted by a cup of coffee or an energy beverage can be a welcome effect, but for times when it’s simply not practical to consume something from a cup or can, or when a faster effect is needed, there’s Foosh Energy Mints and Buzz Bites Chocolate Energy Chews from California-based Vroom Foods Inc.

The energy provided by both the mints and the chews comes from a blend of caffeine, ginseng, taurine and five B vitamins: thiamin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. The mints may look small, but in this case looks can be very deceiving: one Foosh Energy Mint contains 25% more caffeine than an entire can of Red Bull.

The company bills its products to be “as safe as coffee,” with one mint or chew imparting the same effect as an 8.3-oz energy drink. Each mint contains 100 mg of caffeine, as much as a typical cup of coffee. Comparatively speaking, a can of Coca-Cola contains just 34 mg and popular energy drinks contain in the neighborhood of 80 mg of caffeine.

The caffeine rush can be felt “almost immediately” via sublingual infusion, when the product is allowed to dissolve either under the tongue or through the lining of the cheek. The effects are also faster and greater on an empty stomach.

According to the company, the formulation of the candies took considerable tinkering thanks to the naturally bitter taste of the energy-imparting ingredients (caffeine, B vitamins and ginseng) in the formulation. “We at Vroom Foods worked on the formulation for over three years with various food developers, flavor houses and nutritionists to mask the bitterness as much as possible by using various sweeteners, flavors and masking agents,” the company said.

With a tongue-in-cheek nod to those with sensitive palates, the company added: “A small percentage of the population (known as Super Tasters) are especially sensitive to bitterness and may find the taste of some of the products objectionable (these people tend to be the same people that dislike vegetables because of their bitter taste). We could have just used ‘fairy dust’ amounts of energy ingredients so that we could list them on the ingredient label like many other companies do, but instead we wanted these things to be functional so we kept the amounts high. To some these may not be the best tasting products in the world, but as far as we know they are the most powerful. Even if you don’t like the taste, the functional benefits are still there. Godiva chocolates these are not, but Godiva can’t do what this chew can.”

Foosh Energy Mints, Buzz Bites Chocolate Energy Chews and Mint Chocolate Energy Chews are still being rolled out nationwide and are currently sold on the company’s website. The mints are sold in tins containing 12 .75-oz mints. Chew tins contain six chews per package. Each tin retails for $3.99.

Super Seeds

Endorsed by Baseball Hall of Famer, Tony Gwynn, Sumseeds caffeinated sunflower seeds from Dakota Valley Products, Inc. (DVP) of Willow Lake, SD, are yet another energy option. Each single-serve portion (1.75 oz) contains 140 mg of caffeine, 96 mg of taurine, 53 mg of lysine and 40 mg of ginseng to deliver twice as much energy as that found in a typical energy drink—without the added sugar.

Beginning with a larger than average sunflower seed, which results in a larger kernel meat and “a more satisfying mouthfeel,” DVP processes the seeds in its own plant via a proprietary and patent pending roasting and cooling process that not only imparts a nuttier tasting, “better mouthfeel,” but also a longer shelf life. “Other processes result in a product that is poorly cooled and actually starts to oxidize (deteriorate) almost immediately after roasting,” the company said. “It is not uncommon to open a bag of a competitor’s sunflower product, which had only been processed weeks before and find an objectionable ‘musty’ or ‘moldy’ smell. Not so with Sumseeds. Our proprietary process provides for a full one-year shelf life.

Sumseeds’ inherently lower ratio of sugar to caffeine circumvents the sudden spike and subsequent crash in blood sugar that results after the consumption of sugary energy drinks, which can have as many as 30 grams of sugar for only 70-80 mg of caffeine. Sumseeds, however, have just two grams or less of sugar for 140 mg of caffeine, which provides a more gradual and sustainable energy boost.

Sumseeds are available in four flavors: Original, Salt & Pepper, Honey BBQ and Dill Pickle. They are sold nationwide and a 3.5-oz pack retails for $2.00.

The aforementioned caffeinated snacks are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting a handle on the buzz this emerging niche has to offer. Food formulators know that the average consumer is always on the lookout for foods that provide a benefit and they are ready to oblige with products that not only taste great but also provide a real energy boost.