As an alternative to classic popcorn snacks, Lil’ Pops makes corn-free crunchy clusters with sorghum, the nutrient-dense whole grain. The popcorn-like snacks are offered in Sweet Cinnamon, Sweet & Salty and Sweet Cocoa varieties that are made with just a handful of simple ingredients like pink Himalayan salt, tapioca syrup and other natural flavors.
Sorghum is a 10,000-year-old grain that's not only incredibly nutritious but naturally conserves resources during its growing process and actually enhances the health of the soil it grows in by capturing harmful airborne carbons.
Ancient grains are emerging as superfood ingredients during a time when consumers are more concerned than ever with plant-based eating and conserving the environment. Like other plant-based products, these ones can easily be swapped as a free-from alternative to traditional corn-based snacks.
Image Credit: Lil' Pops
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Clustered Ancient Grain Snacks
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop new flavors and textures in clustered snacks using other ancient grains like quinoa or amaranth.
- Plant-based Eating
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Create innovative plant-based alternatives to traditional snacks, using ancient grains as a main ingredient.
- Environmental Conservation
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Explore sustainable packaging solutions for ancient grain snacks to align with consumer demand for eco-friendly products.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Food Manufacturing
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Incorporate ancient grain ingredients into various food products to cater to the growing demand for nutritious and sustainable options.
- Snack Food
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop new snack formats and flavors using ancient grains to capture the market of health-conscious consumers seeking alternative snack options.
- Packaging
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Design eco-friendly packaging solutions specifically tailored for ancient grain snacks to meet the growing demand for sustainable packaging in the food industry.
