Smoothie innovation

Making a splash at Expo East are new smoothie products that satisfy consumer desire for convenient, nutritious breakfast or snack options.

“We’re seeing lots of things happening on the smoothie front,” Ms. Mast said. “We’re seeing new smoothie products that incorporate higher fiber content and cut some of the sugar out by adding vegetables, nuts, seeds and more to traditional blended fruit.”

B’More Organic, Baltimore, makes ready-to-drink organic skyr smoothies with milk from grass-fed cows in a range of flavors, including mango banana and caffe latte, among others. Products contain up to 40 grams of protein per bottle.

Founded by a Whole Foods Market veteran, Bright Greens Smoothie Shakers, Washington, offers a line of frozen smoothie cubes in such flavors as blueberry, peach, pineapple and mint, each made with kale, spinach or both. Consumers add hot water and shake in a jar to produce a green smoothie, sans the blender.

In addition to ready-to-drink offerings, Ms. Mast said, “you’re finding more and more smoothie boosters in the supplement section of the store, using the whole smoothie delivery format as a way of getting nutrition to consumers because consumers increasingly have pill and capsule fatigue.”

An example is Kura Nutrition, Bloomington, Minn., with its range of protein smoothie powders with dairy sourced from free-range, grass-fed farms in New Zealand and added probiotics. Flavors include berry, vanilla and chocolate.