8 Light Grocery Meal Innovations

Meals and snacks defined by fruit and veggie combos, salad bowls (with or without protein) and refrigerated dips/spreads are all at arm’s length for consumers seeking lighter eats during the summer season.

Several CPGs have long known this and are continually appealing to consumers via price, promotional and display competencies in collaboration with retail partners. What’s most impressive, though, is the innovation across brand lines.

In June, for example, Ready Pac Foods (Bonduelle Group) relaunched Ready Pac Bistro Bowl Salads, now featuring a fresh look and recycle-ready packaging. In partnership with How2Recycle, the brand’s goal is designing all plastic packaging to be 100% recycle-ready or reusable by 2025. Users simply discard the seal and bottom label and rinse out the bowl and tray prior to recycling.

Click through to view 8 rollouts that hit supermarket shelves during the first half of 2022.

Violife expanded into a new category with plant-based dips, including French Onion, Spinach & Artichoke and Ranch. Violife French Onion Dip offers coconut oil and real onions, packing the creaminess of a classic French Onion; Violife Spinach & Artichoke Dip includes coconut oil and real spinach and artichokes; while Violife Ranch Dip features coconut oil and herbs.

Ready Pac Foods introduces two Ready Pac Bistro Salad Bowl flavors in Chicken & Bacon Caesar (romaine lettuce and smokey bacon with white meat chicken, topped with creamy Caesar dressing) and Chicken BLT (iceberg lettuce blended with white meat chicken, bacon and grape tomatoes and combined with buttermilk ranch dressing).

Litehouse unveiled a new line of thick and creamy Litehouse Dips & Spread with cleaner ingredient labels, bolder flavors and better taste, the supplier says. The packaging is refreshed with new 12-ounce tubs featuring vibrant visuals. Five flavors include Homestyle Ranch, Avocado Ranch, Southwest Ranch, Dilly Dip and Spinach Parmesan.

Boskovich Fresh Food Group, known for a commitment to sustainable farming practices, introduced a retail line—Green Fork—that encompasses 11 SKUs across pre-packaged salad kits, tender leaves, salad blends and packaged vegetables. Salad kits feature Slammin’ Sesame and Marvelous Mediterranean; tender leaves, Awesome Arugula and Sweet Baby Spinach; salad blends, Garden Party and Simply Spring; and pre-packaged vegetables, Cilantro Pronto, Italian-O Parsley, Curiously Curly Parsley, Radish Squad and Bae-Bae Bok Choy.

Deep Silver, senior director of marketing at Fresh Prep LLC and Boskovich Family Farms, said that the new line brings new personality and an elevated, youthful edge to the pre-packaged category.

Fueled by playful packaging and chef-driven recipes, Green Fork fills a grocery gap, according to Silver. “Green Fork is an opportunity to welcome younger consumers seeking consistency and healthy, convenient options to our brands and improve sales within the demographic for our retail partners,” he said.

Sabra and Fifth Season partnered earlier this year to introduce salad kits featuring sustainably farmed greens paired with creamy, plant-based hummus, guacamole and whole grains. Available in the produce aisle, the salad kits will launch in two varieties: Mediterranean Hummus Salad and Avocado Ranch Salad. The salad meal kits will stay crisp for weeks in the fridge, the company says. 

Ocean Mist Farms, a grower and marketer of fresh artichokes, ships Frost Kissed artichokes, which will be intermittently available throughout the winter season. Once the temperature drops below 32 degrees, the artichokes’ skin darkens due to the freezing conditions, which seals in more flavor and provides a nuttier flavor profile for Ocean Mist Farms’ Frost Kissed artichokes. The brown outer layer peels off once cooked, resulting in the green artichoke shoppers are familiar with, the company said.

Braga Fresh offers Josie’s Organics Organic Baby Iceberg Lettuce. The hand-sized heads of lettuce are available in 2-count retails bags. The specialty size is harvested weeks earlier than traditional iceberg heads.

Sliced apple producer Crunch Pak has redesigned the packaging for 30 SKUs and divided its product line into four categories: fun (Dipperz); quick energy (Medley); mini-meal replacements (Snacker); and meal solution (Cafe). The new packaging and supporting brand materials are rolling out to select stores nationwide in anticipation of this year’s back-to-school season.