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These days, pretzels aren’t just your average bar snack. Manufacturers are producing their savory snacks with a bit of a twist, reaching the consumers who crave bolder flavors, a better-for-you snack or an innovative accompaniment to an everyday meal.

There’s something to be said about artisan craftsmanship. Hudson Bread, North Bergen, N.J., knows that quite well. With a view of New York City’s skyline, the bakery uses only the best ingredients to produce a wealth of fresh bread creations daily, and top sellers including French baguettes, seven-grain loaves and hand-cut loaves Francaise, which are signature rustic items.

There’s a nationally celebrated day or month for everything: National Hairdressers’ Day, National Bath Safety Month; Run up the Flagpole and See if Anyone Salutes Day and even Houseplant Appreciation Day.

Top snacking trends were found at the National Confectioners Association’s 2012 Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago last week, and the show filled with plenty of visitors. Fun sweets, foreign flavors and healthy snacks emerged as things to watch. Thousands of new confectionery and snack foods were presented during the show, as the hottest new products from more than 560 companies lead the industry with the new flavors.

Investors claim that Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (MFI) can rebound from slacking bakery sales by cutting costs. The food company is Canada’s second-largest, and has experienced a drop in bakery sales, though it’s consolidating into new plants and is updating systems to cut expenses.

With 48% of eating occasions falling into the snack category, "snacking is evolving as culturally relevant to consumers as mealtime, says Hartman Group founder and CEO Harvey Hartman at Food Marketing Institute (FMI) 2012 during the session "Challenging Consumer Financial Realities = In-Store Opportunities." Hartman says that people snack nearly twice as often as they did in 1977.

Solazyme Roquette Nutritionals is developing new lipid-rich flours that enable produce developers to create bakery and dessert products with super nutrition and taste. Solazyme Roquette Nutritionals was formed between Solazyme and Roquette as an ingredient solutions provider that develops natural, functional ingredients, like those featuring microalgae, for food and beverage applications.

Frito-Lay, Plano, Texas, unveils Doritos Dinamita tortilla chips, which are rolled into mini-taquito shapes, with a spicier flavor profile.

Hoping to capitalize the healthier eating trend, Planters teams with a magazine brand to win adult shoppers with Planters Nut-rition Men's Health Recommended Mix.

A new report called “Food Allergy and Intolerance Products: A Global Strategic Business Report,” from Global Industry Analysts (GIA), says the global market for foods developed for those with food allergies and intolerances should grow to more than $26.5 billion within the next five years.