The snack market is currently valued at a colossal $43 billion just in the US and is growing at a staggering pace. Not only is it growing, it is also diversifying and companies that produce or offer their clients snacks are being forced to keep up or get left behind.
Whilst a small packet of peanuts, crackers or pretzels may have been acceptable for an air traveler five ten years ago, nowadays they expect something a little more creative. Whilst snacking was seen to be an unhealthy pursuit not that long ago, it is currently being reinvented into an opportunity to provide your body with a healthy boost.
People are turning more and more to granola bars and bags, dried fruit, protein snacks, vegetable chips and other seemingly healthier options. They are shunning the potato chips, chocolate bar and fried snacks.
Keeping up with these fads is tough for most companies and more and more companies are starting to outsource rather than struggle to produce their snacks themselves. It is just not feasible to constantly retool the manufacturing facility to produce a multitude of different snacks and there is a risk that the popularity of the item may not last long enough to pay off the investment. Outsourcing to a company that specializes in producing these items means a faster turnaround time and no risk.
There is an argument that if you produce a product in house you have more control over it. To a certain extent that is true but if you are able to find a company that you are comfortable working with that have the expertise and willingness to adapt, they can produce the exact formulation that you want. With their manufacturing capabilities, they probably can produce a superior product at a better price point, especially when the quantity you need is not high enough to justify investing in quality production equipment.
Customers are becoming more savvy and are demanding much more complex nutritional offerings. Protein snacks for example which can be made from a variety of pulses and take a long time to formulate and test. Outsourcing companies such as Afifit in Israel have a technologically advanced laboratory where they can test not just the recipes but the nutritional value of their products. They have the experience and technology necessary and are ready to produce these snacks for their customers to put their own label on.
Whether you are an airline, a hotel or a food distributor, you have a complex operation to look after and many things to take care of. You want to offer your clients quality and selection. It just does not make sense to add an extra ongoing manufacturing task when you can outsource it and get better results with way less effort.
By outsourcing your snack requirements you will save yourself a big headache, reduce turnaround time, decrease risk, save yourself money, and provide a good quality product. More importantly, you will be able to keep up with your customers needs and wishes and a happy customer means a returning customer and this leads to profit.