Stockport snacking start up Real Handful is celebrating a stellar first year with the news that Sainsbury’s are snapping up the brand’s tasty, nutritionally balanced trail mix inspired snacks.
Sainsbury’s is set to stock Real Handful’s Strawberries & Cream, Blood Orange and Dark Chocolate and Blueberry Blitz flavours across 461 stores nationwide from March 5th 2017. With an RSP of £1.00, the snacks offer a great healthy impulse snack solution. Real Handful’s rapidly growing customer base also includes Boots, Ocado, Holland & Barrett and a number of Foodservice groups – reflecting consumer demand for healthier snack options both in and out of home.
Cheadle based Real Handful Limited recently received an offer of investment following Hallidays Stockport Business Angels “Dragon’s Den’ style event.
Founder of Real Handful Joe Taylor, commented: ‘It’s been a really exciting first year for our trail mix blends with distribution growing to reflect consumers increasing demand for healthier snacks whether they’re at work, on the go or in home. From the outset we wanted to create a range of flavour inspired snacks that are accessible to everyone and we’re delighted to be partnering with Sainsbury’s to offer consumers a better everyday snack choice.
We’ve recently secured significant additional investment into the business which will be used to fuel further growth across 2017 and beyond including development of new product ranges and packaging formats”
Taylor developed the six strong 2016 Real Handful range using natural flavours and high quality ingredients for a nutritious 40g snack option that delivers on taste. Joe, who gained experience of product launches when working at Innocent, was inspired to bring Real Handful to market following a trip to the Grand Canyon, where trail mix kept his energy levels high.
Realising that there was a real gap in the UK snacking market for a healthy, balanced and yet enjoyable tasty snack, Joe – along with his wife Carly – set about shaking up the status quo and offering consumers something new.
Talking about the uptake on the range since launch, Joe added: ‘’Consumer response has been fantastic, validating our assumption that consumers don’t want to compromise on taste when reaching for a healthier snack. They are real snacks for real people.’’