NatureRipe snack
Naturipe Snacks pair fresh berries or grapes with cheese and nuts in a variety of flavor combinations.
 

Cheese snack packs with a premium twist

Cheese is showing up in all types of perishable snack packs, many marketed by non-dairy companies. Multi-component containers include cheese cubes with hard-boiled eggs, meats, nuts or fruits. The latter may be dried or fresh. Other formats have cheese slices rolled with charcuterie, with everything from prosciutto to salami.

Naturipe Snacks from Naturipe Farms, Salinas, Calif., pair fresh berries or grapes with cheese and nuts in a variety of flavor combinations. The product line includes a bold and spicy variety, which is grapes, chili mango cashews and pepper Jack cheese, and sweet and crunchy, which is strawberries, blueberries, cinnamon almonds and white cheddar cheese.

The Hillshire Snacking Small Plates line from Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, Ark., combines meat (salami slices, spicy pork chunks or grilled chicken chunks), cheeses, crackers, crisps and nuts. The latest addition includes alcohol flavor-infused meats, such as apple chardonnay, smoky bourbon and whiskey brown sugar.

Sargento Balanced Breaks snack
Sargento has an extensive range of Balanced Breaks dual-compartment packs.
 

Austin, Minn.-based Hormel Foods has Hormel Natural Choice Snacks. Combinations include honey ham chunks with cheddar cheese cubes and dark chocolate-covered pretzels and turkey breast with pepper Jack cheese and dark chocolate-covered blueberries. For the holidays, the company rolled out Hormel Gatherings Culinary Pairings, which is actually a snack kit designed for entertaining, as it contains two to four servings. The pack combines charcuterie with cheese and flatbread crackers.


Sargento, Plymouth, Wis., has an extensive range of Balanced Breaks dual-compartment packs. Some are savory while others are sweet. Varied flavor combinations also may be found in the Snack Trios line from Chicago-based Kraft Heinz Co., which features a three-compartment pack.