Health Food

Kids’ properties often lend their names to healthy snacks, although the practice tends to rise and fall cyclically. This year seems to be an active period for such pairings—some long-term, some short-term and promotional—with a number of properties and a number of different product types involved. Nearly all of these products are veggie- and fruit-forward, and many tout their high plant-based protein levels:

• Rocket Licensing, in consultation with The Joester Loria Group, licensed Eric Carle Studios’ The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Ella’s Kitchen in November, representing the latter’s first licensing deal. The products, for the U.K. market, encompass snacks for babies and toddlers, including Butterfly Pops (popcorn) and Oaty Biccies (oat cookies). The products come in Very Hungry Caterpillar-inspired sweet and savory flavors such as cheese and pickle and tomato and nice green leaf, and in butterfly and caterpillar shapes.

• Marvel paired I Am Groot, a series of shorts on Disney+ starring the favorite Guardians of the Galaxy character, with Wonderful Pistachios in June for limited-edition 24-ounce packaging and point-of-sale materials in advance of the debut of the original shorts. The campaign, called “Groot Gets Crackin’,” also included a sweepstakes, fan experiences, TV spots, and other elements. The partnership highlighted the snack’s “plant-protein power.”

• Illumination collaborated with organic chickpea snack brand Hippeas on a promotion in June to support its film Minions: The Rise of Gru. The tie-in involved limited-edition themed package designs for four flavors of organic chickpea puffs—including Vegan White Cheddar, Nacho Vibes, Sriracha Sunshine, and Bohemian Barbecue—in a variety of sizes. They were sold online and in club, mass, drug, and supermarket retailers. Both partners’ branding shares a yellow hue.

• Wildbrain teamed with three fruit marketers—Sunkist for blood oranges, Naturipe Farms for strawberries and blueberries, and T&G Global for Envy apples—in April to highlight its YouTube and Netflix series Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City. The promotion included limited-edition packaging and merchandising displays featuring the show’s characters, as well as in-store promotional opportunities. All three fruit brands developed snack recipes as part of the tie-in, which promoted the consumption of fruit as snacks.

• Moonbug Entertainment licensed Sprout Organics for CoComelon baby and toddler snacks, with the first round of products coming out in February and a second round in May. The initial wave included baby food pouches in organic mixed vegetable and apple oatmeal raisin flavors, as well as Pumpkin Butter and Jelly Wafflez, Broccoli Curlz, and White Cheddar Curlz. The products are sold online and through Walmart. The second wave included organic snack bars with unsweetened fruits, veggies, and oats, sold online and through H-E-B grocery stores.

These examples go beyond the standard “better-for-you” food categories that tend to be associated with children’s properties, such as fruit juices and yogurts, which are billed as healthier options but can contain lots of sugar or preservatives or possess other less-healthy attributes.