Kids are perhaps the most challenging and critical consumers out there. Parents are giving their children more input about the foods that they purchase for their households, giving our youngest consumers an increasing amount of influence over the market. What makes this more challenging is that kids are known for being very particular when it comes to food. Let’s face it, sometimes it takes more than colorful packaging and popular animated characters to win over picky eaters. Here’s what our experts suggest when it comes to creating foods and flavors that kids will totally love – and that their parents will feel good about buying.
Innovating without Alienating
Kids are now more adventurous than ever before, but it still can take some convincing to persuade them to try something new. This means innovating without ever going too far out of the box. Flavors that are familiar serve as a good starting point and creating flavor mashups with these familiar favorites is a sure way to motivate kids to give a new food product a try – and get them excited about new products. Use popular flavors like BBQ, ranch, cheddar, and the like to start and then pair more trendy and unique flavors with them to attract kids.
Another option is to take traditional kid-friendly foods as flavor inspiration for other products. Think mac ‘n cheese, chicken fingers, PB&J, and pizza. Translating the flavors of these favorite foods – and even adding a twist – into snacks, sauces, soups, desserts, and more are great ways to encourage our youngest consumers to try new bases and product types. Just like any consumers, kids grow bored easily and want to shake things up from time to time. The key here is to know your audience. The older the kid, the more wiggle room you have in terms of flavor innovation.
Invest in Stealth Health
It’s not just about keeping the kids happy; it’s also about keeping the parents happy too. And parents, in general, are concerned about their kids’ diets and establishing healthy eating habits early on. There’s an ongoing struggle, however, between parents’ desires to help their children stay healthy and kids’ preferences. Unhealthy foods tend to be marketed towards children, and parents have a difficult time saying no to their kids. There are ways, however, to please the parents and please the kids. In recent years, the “stealth health” trend has emerged, in which brands have innovated to incorporate more fruits and veggies into popular foods that are geared towards children.
Consider stealth health a win-win; the kids get to enjoy their favorite foods and their parents get to feel satisfied in knowing that they’ve made better choices for their kids. From better-for-you snack bases to veggie-based sauces and proteins, there are numerous avenues for innovation.
Encourage Exploration
What makes our youngest consumers special? You can’t help but admire their sense of wonder about the world, their big imaginations, and their seemingly limitless creativity. Open up a whole new world of possibilities for them when it comes to food and flavor. Encourage them to get creative with their food, try new things, and expand their horizons. Emphasize ways in which foods and flavors can allow them to explore. Not only will kids love the idea of becoming food explorers, but they will also feel like brands that help them do so really get them.
Need some kid-friendly flavor ideas? We’ve got you covered! Contact us today to get our experts’ recommendations for your brand.
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