Five brands in the plant-based snacking business are announcing a new coalition today at Expo West to tackle a common pain point: shoppers are struggling to find their favorite snacks at the store even when they’re on the shelf.

To launch their coalition, the founders at Barnana, Biena, Dang, gimMe and RHYTHM have joined forces to build a “Premium, Plant-Based Snacking Set” at this year’s Expo West (booth #429) that unites all of these better-for-you snacks into one common location in the store.

“Currently, every retailer has a different placement approach for these types of snacks, from dried fruit to trail mix to nutrition bars or produce,” said gimMe co-founder Steve Broad. “Our goal at Expo West is to find additional retailers to adopt our ‘Premium, Plant-Based Snacking Set’ with in-store to see how it could expand sales of the whole category.”

Premium, plant-based snacks like those sold by Barnana, Biena, Dang, gimMe and Rhythm are growing 1.6x the rate of premium salty snacks in Grocery[1].

 “We all have research that says our shoppers have trouble finding our snacks in the store. As consumers shift towards premium plant-based snacks, the industry needs to do a better job of informing shoppers where to purchase them. If we don’t, they will continue to seek out our portfolio of snacks online,” said Barnana co-founder Matt Clifford.

When Barnana’s Clifford shared his brand’s problem with other snack brand founders, they all realized they shared a common challenge and agreed that the best solution is shelf placement at retail that unites this snack set.   

“We’re working together to address a business challenge that impacts us all, competitors or not,” said Poorvi Patodia, founder of Biena. “Our consumers are seeking alternatives to traditional snacks, and we know these shoppers are really valuable to retailers. If we learn how to help them find what they want to buy, that’s a real win for the consumer, for our brand and for the retailer.” 

Shopper data indicates that the shopper profile for premium, plant-based snacks is a female, millennial who is health-oriented and has a high average household income. While she still does the majority of her grocery shopping in traditional retail, shopping trends indicate she’s increasing her purchases of healthy, premium snacks at alternative channels including online.