• Cereal bars – An increasingly common choice for quick snacks.
In a world where we are always on the run, the trend is to find ways to make our daily activities easier, even when it comes to food. The ideal solution in this case seems to be the cereal bar – a perfect snack for the whole family, designed from simple raw materials and with the addition of different fruits or seeds.
Manufacturers take into account the challenges of the market, thus trying to cope as best as possible with this innovative trend. In the frenetic rhythms imposed by the current lifestyle, cereal bars can always satisfy any taste and demand, thanks to their versatility.
Beyond the marketing aspects that fill the shelves of supermarkets and specialty stores with different products with attractive packaging and colorful boxes, cereal bars are designed to bring healthy nutritional values, unlike many other snacks.
The quality of the product depends primarily on its composition.
• Cereal-based bars they consist mainly of dry components. The most used ingredients are: expanded rice, oat flakes, expanded barley, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, with the addition of dried and dehydrated fruits (hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, raspberries, raisins, goji berries, blueberries, etc. .), chocolate flakes... All these ingredients must be "linked" together, using honey, chocolate... the products can thus be classified according to the processing temperature.
• Bars based on fruit paste they are prepared with a mix of ingredients, cold, using as a base the paste of dates, figs, apricots, etc., to which coconut, granulated dried fruits and others can be added. The advantage of producing these bars is remarkable, because the processing is fast, extruded type, which means that they are processed cold and no cooling is required before portioning.
• Another type of bar in demand on the market is the protein bar (not to be confused with diet or energy bars). Protein bars they usually contain at least 10 grams of protein, and the rest of the composition is made up of different percentages of carbohydrates and lipids (mostly vegetable oils), but also mineral salts, vitamins and creatine.
Manufacturers must focus on providing products sought after in the market, which satisfy a number of needs and desires of consumers such as: the ease of consuming them at any time and in any situation, ensuring the dose of energy needed daily, saving time through accessibility and versatility them.
The behavior of the Romanian consumer
Consumer behavior changes periodically, and manufacturers have to keep up with trends. There is a growing orientation towards the consumption of healthy products and towards innovative assortments. Thus, we identify a varied range of bars on the market: from cereals, with a low sugar content, with the addition of dried fruit, dietary, energetic, etc.
Today's cereal bar production systems are designed for maximum versatility, allowing manufacturers to offer products according to consumer trends. According to a study carried out in 2016 by GfK Romania - the number 1 market research institute, Romanians started buying more expensive products, a category that also includes breakfast cereals or cereal bars usually consumed as a snack between meals. In the context in which salaries and pensions increased, and the VAT on food decreased, Romanians started to buy more. In addition, the phenomenon of uptrading – switching to a superior product in the same category. Consumers go shopping less often, but spend more, which indicates some relaxation of them with each act of purchase.
In addition to price and promotions, consumers are also paying attention to the information on the label, becoming much more demanding and selective. According to RetailZoom data, breakfast cereal sales grew 2018% in value and 13% in volume in 7,5. As for the bars, those with cereals were most often sold on the market, followed by nutritional/energizing bars and those with muesli and sesame.
In international retail chains, individual manufacturers have a larger market share than retailers' own brands, with Nestlé being the leading individual manufacturer. However, both categories of suppliers support each other and believe that complementary and concurrent development helps to retain customers who consume cereals and muesli.
Today, the market offers a wide range of healthy, tasty and diet bars, such as cereal or fruit bars, which are not only an authentic snack, but also a real remedy for "nervous hunger" at the office or to simply calm down and simple appetite for something good. Industry-specific equipment and technologies support the production of various cereal bars, and the current social context supports this market, which is in continuous development.
Specific equipment and technologies
In the fast snack industry there is a wide range of products, from cold prepared (fruit paste bars) to baked (cereal bars) or other alternatives that can be consumed quickly, anywhere (quick- and-go).
Manufacturers are constantly challenged by consumers, who request different flavors, textures and shapes for their cereal bars. Therefore, manufacturers should choose production lines that offer either maximum diversity or high product volume, or invest in a mix of the two.
Thus, there are equipment on the market that can be used to produce bars of different shapes and sizes and equipment that ensures the production of assortments with varied compositions.
To ensure efficient productivity, production lines should be flexible and versatile to cope with repeated changes. Such a complex technology provides Bar 2 equipment, designed for the production, by dosing and lamination, of dried fruit bars or those based on cereals or expanded ingredients and, by extrusion, of bars made of different types of fruit paste.
Bar Equipment 2 it can produce up to 3.500 pieces/hour, and the product size can be programmed by the operator through the touch screen panel. The same operator panel allows the management of the entire machine, including the export of production-related data, data archiving and their saving on the server.
designs and develops MACHINERY for the production of different types of bars: dietetic, energy bars, with cereals, with dried fruits. In order to satisfy the demands of the customers, the shape of the final product can be customized according to the desired result.
Nicoleta Banu, editor White Art
