It is becoming a firm trend within the confectionery industry for manufacturers to focus more on health-conscious consumers. Nature Shift is a newly launched food agency focused on bringing snacking foods to market to help consumers make the shift to something more natural when looking for a treat.
Founded on the premise of enjoying a treat while avoiding artificial ingredients, the company have searched for brands that must be ethically sourced, plant-based, organic and colourings made with real ingredients. Consumers are snacking more, and with 93% of UK adults enjoying a snack and 63% of these snacking at least once a day, the requirement for more choice is becoming increasingly prevalent.
The first brand to be launched by Nature Shift are the Not Guilty range of sweets that ‘taste good and do good.’ As well as being vegan, organic and gluten-free, a percentage of sales goes to charity being a member of ‘1% For the Planet’ initiative. The flavours within the range include; Berry Good (mixed red fruit), Mi Colazon (cola), Be My Love (pomegranate) and Lovely Tender (mixed fruit) and with each one having an organic taste with a softer texture, they are on their way to becoming a definite favourite amongst sweet lovers.
Sweet appraisals
Berry Good – sweet and refreshing, the mixed red fruit flavour comes bursting through the taste buds with hints of strawberry, blackcurrant and blackberry. The texture is unexpectedly soft for a gum sweet, but the flavour is definitely moreish. Compacted into tiny, adorable raspberry shapes, the Berry Good range is a satisfying snack that leaves a scrumptious after-taste and no irritating gelatine gum stuck in the teeth!
Mi Colazon – these delicious Mi Colazon sweets have a wonderfully familiar taste. Full of that special cola magic that is so adored within the confectionery world – these gummy sweets have their own softness containing natural ingredients including; pectin as a gelling agent and carnauba wax as a glazing agent.
Be My Love – pomegranate is not a common flavour, especially amongst confectionery production, but the Not Guilty range have developed Be My Love sweets with a sour but fruity component in a love heart form. Using pomegranate juice concentrate and black carrot juice concentrate, these sweets are rather indulgent due to the prominent organic flavour that is accompanied perfectly with the soft, melty texture.
Lovely Tender – these fruity gummy bears are a definite highlight of the entire range. With flavours including lemon, orange, strawberry, apple and blackcurrant, each one is overflowing with natural aromas that definitely leave you wanting more. There is barely a difference in taste between these and gelatine-based gummy bears, except these can be enjoyed without the unnecessary artificiality. Nature Shift have struck gold with these treats – a luscious flavour that only contains organic goodness.
Goals and future developments
Nature Shift’s ultimate goal is to help others make the same shift towards a natural product by representing a range of fun, innovative, good value and great tasting alternatives to classic confectionary. The company insists on a small SRP providing products to retailers that takes up a small and efficient space allowing a cost-effective way of targeting consumers who are part of the increased snacking habit.
The Not Guilty range is available in stores now, following distribution from Suma (which delivers over 7,000 vegetarian, natural, responsibly sourced products to business and communities across the UK and international), Tree of Life (the UK’s largest wholesale distributor of healthy, natural and organic products) and Marigold (which carries 4,000 lines of vegetarian foods which 60% are certified as organic). For the winter season, the food agency is planning to launch a sour range as well as Fair Trade snacking chocolate that comes in three flavours.
