‘Snackable’ protein: US gourmet peanut butter brand BNutty banks on flavour and texture to accelerate Asia growth

14-Jul-2022 - Last updated on 14-Jul-2022 at 02:19 GMT

Specialist peanut butter brand BNutty has its eye on the Singapore market this year. ©bNutty

Specialist peanut butter brand BNutty has its eye on the Singapore market this year, and is banking on its flavours a ndtextures to accelerate its growth in the region.

BNutty hails from the state of Indiana in the United States, and boasts over 20 different flavours in its portfolio.

The firm has successfully ranged its peanut butter in about 5,000 stores nationwide across the US including both big names like Albertsons and regional stores like SpartanNash, and has also widened its reach to 14 different countries across South America, the Caribbean and the GCC.

“Now our next major target is Asia, and we definitely want to start with Singapore, and we’re looking at South Korea as well,” BNutty Co-Founder Carol Podolak told FoodNavigator-Asia at the recent Speciality and Fine Foods Asia (SFFA) show.

“There are so many trends booming in this area which make the conditions right for peanut butter growth, especially with supply chain challenges meaning that many consumers are now prioritizing shelf stable protein that can be kept in their pantries and also tastes good – and peanut butter is very definitely a prime candidate here.

“There is also the rise in interest here in Asia for global cuisines post-COVID-19, where we also hold an advantage due to our unique flavours – we have over 20 flavours which we rotate, but the first three we intend to bring into Singapore are the Irresistible Pretzel, Totally Toffee and Blissfully Blueberry.

“All three of these are relatively new flavours here in Asia, especially as part of peanut butter, and we believe this will draw a lot of interest.”

BNutty also has various other interesting flavours including Joyful Cranberry, Simply Salted Caramel, Java Chip, Coco-Nutty and more.

“Another key characteristic about our peanut butter is its extreme snackability – it was made to be a snack food, and we have made sure to ensure that not just the taste but also the texture has been made right for this,” she added.

“Most of the flavours have that crunchy bite, and with the pretzel one in particular there’s an additional crunch from the pretzel pieces added, which has made it one of our best-sellers.

“To ensure that these are still healthy and nutritional especially for children, we also only use high quality peanuts and other gourmet ingredients to make the peanut butter and that’s it – the sweetness in products that need it is mostly from honey and there’s no added oil despite the natural oil separation in the product.”

2022 ambition

The firm runs its own factory in the US, and has started talks with various Singapore retailers and distributors to bring these products in within the year.

“We’ve had some good talks with some big Singapore names and are pretty positive, so really are hoping to launch here in Singapore within 2022,” said Podolak.

“That interest in global cuisine is really coming into play strongly here, so peanut butter as a very traditional American food – but made healthier and more unique – is very much seeing interest as a good item that moms looking for healthy snacks for their children to eat.

“Furthermore, we are seeing plant-based products very much gaining traction here which is also helping to boost the popularity of peanut butter – and there’s an even stronger sense of adventurousness to try new, unique flavours which is a key value proposition for us as it is.”