Source: https://www.supergoods.io
Fruit is deeply ingrained in our evolutionary biology. Humans
are wired to crave sweetness because in our hunter-gatherer past, sweet
meant safe. Fruit and honey signalled non-toxic, ripe and nutrient rich.
Anything bitter or sour usually meant poison.
Fast-forward a few millennia and those instincts are still firing. Only
now, instead of climbing trees, we’re raiding vending machines to chase the
same dopamine hit through refined sugar and artificial flavours. All rush, no
nourishment.
BUT. All hope is not lost.
A new wave of brands are bringing fruit back to the table -
dressed up, dipped, baked, blended and more damn delicious than ever. With a
little ‘better-for-you’ spin on it. This article is a deep-dive into the
fruit-based snack trend.
What’s
goin’ on with fruit?
Fruit getting the candy treatment. Not the ol’
dried-apricot-in-a-ziplock vibe or kids sugar-disguised-as-fruit wraps type of
thing. We’re talking dipped, dusted, stuffed, baked, and bite-sized -
positioned unapologetically as treats.
My favourite recent launch is this line by Smood Sweets - dates wrapped
with a candy ‘m&m’ like layer. No sugar added and nails the textural
element of candy with the goodness of real food. I reckon this will fly.
There are a couple of factors at play that are driving this broader
trend:
Sugar
fatigue
OK thanks Captain Obvious...But it’s worth mentioning. Shoppers still want sweet but want to feel
better about it. Fruit’s “natural sugar + fibre + vitamins” story is a lot
more appealing than the empty calories and sore teeth of refined sugar.
Industry monitoring shows fruit-based snacks have become the #3
subcategory for global snack launches, with a 6% rise in launch share
over five years.
Whole-food
feel
These type of snacks tick the box for the “made of things I recognise”
brief. People are trying to eat a more balanced diet - we’ve seen this
come through clearly in some recent market research we commissioned. The idea
that you can get a sweet-treat AND feel good about eating a more balanced diet
is pretty rad.
The
gut-health and fibre craze
With GLP1’s impacting more and more dietary decisions, choosing to snack
on fruit instead of pure chocolate or sweets is a no brainer. Fruit delivers
sweetness with substance - fibre, polyphenols, and slow energy. It hits the
craving and keeps your gut microbes happy.
Positioning
matters, a lot.
What’s most interesting about this wave of new brands isn’t purely the
product themselves, but the positioning.
Nibblish has launched in Woolworths in Aus and from an outside
perspective, it looks like they are nailing it. Increased shelf facings,
constantly shopped, premium price points.
The packaging design and branding makes the product feel like an
indulgent treat, not something you give to your kids in place of a candy bar.
Tapping
into ‘permissible indulgence’
They look decadent, taste sweet, and even come in chocolate - but the
narrative is built on natural sweetness, whole ingredients, and “nothing fake.”
That’s why shoppers feel good reaching for them. They satisfy both
systems in the brain: the primal sugar craving and the rational
self-justification that says, “Hey, it’s fruit.”
It’s the same tension that made protein cookies a thing - snacks
engineered to feel naughty while signalling virtue. Only now, it’s happening
with fruit.
Mars acquired Trü Frü (the chocolate-covered frozen fruit brand)
for a nine-figure sum. Closer to home, Australian startup Bomberry
can barely keep up with demand, their chocolate-dipped frozen blueberries
flying out of freezers across independent supermarkets. And when I spoke with
the team behind Franui, who make an almost identical product, they told
me they’ve stopped marketing altogether. Not out of strategy, but necessity.
They simply can’t produce enough to meet demand.
The
emerging “source of fibre” claim
Industry reports keep saying fibre is the next protein.
I’m not convinced - at least not yet. Protein built its cultural
dominance through precision: “You need X grams per kilo of bodyweight.” It gave
people a target, a number to chase, and a sense of control. Fibre, on the other
hand, is fuzzy. Everyone knows they should eat more of it, but no one’s
counting grams. It’s health by vibe.
That said, as gut health and GLP-1s shape more of our food decisions,
fibre’s story is finally getting a spotlight. It might never become the new
protein - but it could easily become the new reason to justify a snack.
We’re
gonna keep seeing these launches
I’m calling it now - we’re only at the start. Expect a wave of new
launches in this space, and more importantly, mainstream adoption.
The real winners will be the brands that can hit volume, bring down price
points, and make choc-dipped fruit feel as everyday as a Mars Bar
Fruit’s comeback isn’t about nostalgia or health halos. It’s about reframing
indulgence. The winners are designing snacks that live perfectly between
the protein bar and the candy aisle: indulgent enough to crave, credible enough
to justify.
And that middle ground is getting more valuable by the day.
With sugar-reduction targets tightening, supermarkets expanding their
“better-for-you” shelves, and shoppers rethinking what healthy actually
means, fruit-based treats are becoming the new permissible pleasure. Expect
chewy, chocolate-dipped, fibre-fortified, smoothie-textured formats that don’t
pretend to be health food, they just deliver on it.
The question isn’t if fruit will go mainstream again - it’s how
far up the value chain it can climb. From frozen to ambient, from natural
confectionery to premium gifting, the opportunities are ripe.
