A Campbell chef, bakery scientist, and nutritionist walk into a kitchen – but the punchline is no joke! The result is delicious new Goldfish Veggie crackers, available in two kid-friendly flavors: Cheesy Tomato and Sweet Carrot. The crackers, made with 1/3 serving of veggies, were released earlier this year, and they have the great taste you expect from Goldfish, now with the added value of veggies.
The vegetable evolution
Through trend and market research, the Campbell Snacks team recognized the need for a baked, veggie snack and went to work with Campbell Research Chef Kaylee Gill, to look for the best ingredients to use.
“We track trends as they evolve through distinct stages to help us stay ahead of the culinary curve,” said Chef Kaylee. “One of the more mainstream trends we saw come to fruition in 2019 is commonly referred to as the ‘vegetable evolution.’ It explains the shift in how consumers think about vegetables and plant-based foods.”
Cracking the case for the perfect veggie snack
With the end goal in mind, our product development and nutrition teams began vetting different fruits and vegetables to help determine what could provide the best nutritional value for their latest snack innovation.
“A lot of detective work went into vetting the veggies,” said Campbell Nutrition Scientist, Ericha Grace, MS, NDTR. “We determined that including 1/3 serving of vegetables would provide meaningful nutrition while maintaining the integrity of the cracker, so we had to make sure we could deliver on that promise.”
Part of that detective work involved the Vegetable Review Board, which is a select group of employees from our nutrition, regulatory, and product development teams. The board meets to assess vegetable ingredients to determine how many servings of veggies they provide.
“Not all ingredients are created equally, so it was our job to consider all the different factors that impact an ingredients’ nutritional value. That way we know the crackers are providing all the veggie goodness they can in each serving,” said Ericha.
Which veggies made the cut?
The team considered several options like broccoli and cauliflower, but the winning veggies were tomatoes and carrots. Once the nutrition claims were vetted, the baking began!
Sarah Moore, Senior Research Scientist on the project, has a degree specifically in bakery science. “There’s a lot of math that goes into the development of products,” said Sarah. “But we could have all the nutrition calculations figured out, and if we couldn’t make a cracker in the end, we weren’t succeeding.”
The team worked through numerous trials to be sure we could deliver on our nutrition claims while still developing a tasty snack that you can feel good about giving your kids.
Case closed
Today, the detective work paid off, and we’re proud to offer Goldfish Veggie crackers in two delicious kid-friendly flavors: Cheesy Tomato and Sweet Carrot. The crackers are made with 1/3 serving of tomatoes or carrots, colors sourced from plants, and have no artificial flavors or preservatives.
Each bag includes your favorite smiling snack along with playful veggie character shapes. We think it’s the kind of snack that both kids and parents will love.
Pick up a bag of Goldfish Veggie crackers by finding a store near you.
