Leftovers: PepsiCo accelerator brand makes keto-friendly puffs; MealCubes serves up a ‘meal in a pill’

Hilo Life makes the keto trend a little cheesier

For people who have adopted a keto diet for its health benefits, snack foods with high carb counts may be the hardest thing to break with. Hilo Life is trying to solve this problem.

The brand within PepsiCo’s Hive accelerator, which launched a line of keto-friendly tortilla chips reminiscent of Doritos in March, has announced its debut of low-carb cheese puffs. Each bag contains 3 grams of net carbohydrates, 12 grams of protein and contains no sugar. The cheese puffs come in two flavors: cheddar and fiery hot.

A big player like PepsiCo expanding further into the keto snacks market shows a long-term investment strategy within the space. Snacks will be a significant part of this growth as dieters look for replacements for their favorite junk foods. In 2019, cheese snacks were worth $2.5 billion, according to IRI data. Cheetos, the biggest player in the space, saw gains after the healthier oven-baked Cheetos Puffs increased by 61%, showing an increased interest in better-for-you versions of popular cheese snacks.

There are other keto-friendly cheese puffs on the market that Hilo Life will now be competing with. Better-for-you brand Thrive Market touts a vegan option. PeaTos, made of peas and touting no artificial flavors, has made a name for itself in the space, and is available in over 4,700 grocery stores with a variety of flavors like Chili Cheese, Zesty Ranch and Fiery Hot. However, PeaTos contain 12 grams of carbohydrates per bag, while Hilo Life only contains a quarter of that, potentially giving Hilo Life an edge for consumers looking to significantly cut their carb intake.

— Chris Casey

MealCubes creates pocket-sized nutrition

When Soylent debuted almost a decade ago, there were many commentators and consumers that were up in arms. The company’s flagship product was a drink that could replace a meal, something that defied the conventional logic of eating three meals a day. 

But the meal replacement segment has actually seen success and attracted new players. And personalized nutrition company Meepo has succeeded in taking it a step farther with its new MealCubes. These bite-sized cubes, which look like candy (and, according to the company, taste like it too) pack a lot of nutrition into small bites. 

A three-pack of MealCubes — which contains one piece each of cherry, orange and green apple flavors — has 420 calories, 25 grams of protein, 28 grams of healthy fat, 23 grams of complex carbohydrates and 35 essential vitamins and minerals. Basically, a package of MealCubes represents the nutritional equivalent of four ounces of wild salmon, two cups of kale, one sweet potato and half of an avocado, the company says. Meepo co-founder and CEO Matthew Elonis has applied for a patent on the technology, which he calls “meal in a pill.”

Meepo’s press release first mentions the pocket-sized candy-looking meal equivalent as a solution to global undernourishment. The company mentions other potential uses, like for long-distance travelers, military and healthcare professionals and astronauts.  

However, looking at the broader genre of meal replacement items already on the market, the people who need quick or super-convenient nutrition aren’t always the primary consumers. Instead, they’re often used by consumers looking to lose weight. Dietitians say this is not a good idea, since it’s difficult to pack all of the nutrients a body gets from food into a beverage.

Where MealCubes fits into the broader picture depends on how Meepo targets its products. If it’s presented as a nutritional aid, it could be hailed as a useful tool in helping nutrition for those who need it. But if it’s sold on the consumer market as the next big thing in meal replacement, it might become a weight loss fad, or seen as a product that takes a cynical view of the world’s future ability to feed its population. As a whole, the meal replacement segment seems to be losing its luster. Even Soylent, which essentially started the most recent generation of products, has changed its tune, rebranding earlier this year as a supplement to a healthy diet.

— Megan Poinski

Ocean Spray rides the water wave with Frutas Frescas

Judging by the slate of new products Ocean Spray has rolled out over the past several months, it’s clear that the cranberry co-op sees opportunity in testing different combinations of juice, water and sweeteners to hit the perfect better-for-you chord with consumers.

Case in point: Frutas Frescas, Ocean Spray’s new line of beverages meant to be its spin on aguas frescas, the water-juice blends popular in many Central American countries. The line includes three cranberry-centric blends: Cranberry Pineapple Passion Fruit, Cranberry Lemon Raspberry and Cranberry Raspberry Pear.  The beverages are made with real fruit juice and said to contain no artificial sweeteners, with 11 to 12 grams of total sugar and 45 to 50 calories per 8-ounce serving, and 100% of the recommended daily value of vitamin C. Frutas Frescas are launching exclusively at Walmart for a suggested retail price of $2.98 for a 64-ounce bottle.

The new items follow the March launch of Ocean Spray Wave, a caffeinated sparkling water line flavored with a splash of juice that was also a Walmart exclusive, and the November 2020 introduction of B1U, a line of functional waters, which debuted first at Target.   

Aguas frescas are a trendy way to give the water-juice combination a refreshing, multicultural appeal. Coca-Cola has played in the space with its Barrilitos aguas frescas for the fountain, and Califia Farms at one point had a line that launched exclusively at Whole Foods Market in 2014. The fact that Ocean Spray’s product is debuting at Walmart shows how much the beverage and better-for-you trend has infiltrated the mainstream.

Adding water to juice is a good way to reduce the calorie and sugar content in each serving. And it doesn’t hurt the pocketbook either. Frutas Frescas is priced below the $3 mark per 64-ounce bottle, compared to Ocean Spray’s 100% Juice line, which has a suggested retail price of $3.28. 

— Samantha Oller