Green Giant, on a roll with frozen vegetable product rollouts during the past year, has announced that it will roll into 2018 with the debut of Veggie Spirals in January. The gluten-free pasta alternatives will feature carrot, zucchini and butternut squash varieties in 12-ounce (340 gram) packs containing between 65% and 90% fewer carbohydrates per serving than traditional grain-based pasta.
Zucchini and Carrot varieties are two of three of the new offerings of Green Giant Veggie Spirals slated for launch in January. The third is Butternut Squash.“The power of Green Giant is real, and B&G Foods is proud to have begun reinvigorating this beloved brand as we continue to roll out new product innovations to meet the demands of today’s consumers,” said Robert Cantwell, president and chief executive officer of the Parsippany, New Jersey-headquartered company that acquired the iconic label from General Mills in 2015.
During the past 12 months value-added frozen vegetable product extensions brought out by Green Giant have included Riced Veggies, Veggie Tots and Mashed Cauliflower and Roasted Veggies. The introduction of these new offerings reportedly contributed to a 14% increase in frozen category sales during the second quarter of 2017.
“Purchase data show that Green Giant frozen innovation products have not only brought new consumers to the Green Giant brand, but have also brought new consumers to the overall frozen vegetable category,” stated Cantwell.
Fresh-Frozen Approach
“There’s an opportunity to take what’s happening in fresh and apply it to frozen veggies, where the belief was that there hadn’t been a lot of exciting things happening,” said Jordan Greenberg, vice president and general manager of Green Giant.
“Simple but Twisted” organic Beet Spirals are among four SKUs from Veggie Noodle Co. that are now found in the fresh produce departments of over 1,400 stores across the USA. The other choices are sweet potato, butternut and zucchini.Greenberg may have been referring to the success enjoyed by Austin, Texas-based Veggie Noodle Co., which has introduced packaged ready-to-eat USDA organic spiralized vegetable noodles to retail store produce sections. Last month the start-up company received a minority equity investment from Encore Consumer Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm that invests exclusively in innovative consumer products producers and marketers.
Recently named one of the biggest food trends of 2017 by Whole Foods Market, the ready-to-eat alternative to grain-based noodles launched by Veggie Noodle Co. won the “Best of Show” prize at the Product Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit in October of 2016. Distribution has since expanded from Texas to over 1,400 stores in 35 states – including major retailers like Whole Foods, Target and Sprouts.
“We filled a void in the market when we created the first ready-to-eat version of spiralized vegetables, which have become increasingly popular for anyone with a gluten sensitivity or dietary restrictions,” said Mason Arnold. The founder and self-described “resident veggie nerd” of Veggie Noodle Co. launched the business in 2015 after a medical diagnosis forced him to seek gluten-free meal options.
