Catelli says its two new pastas will help Canadian moms slip more veggies into the foods their kids eat.
The two new Catelli pastas – Smart Veggie and SuperGreens – are set to launch in April at grocery stores across Canada.
Made from 100% Canadian wheat, the new products also contain a variety of powders from dehydrated, non-genetically modified vegetables.
The new Catelli Smart Veggie, for example, is a white pasta in macaroni, spaghetti and spaghettini styles that delivers a half serving of vegetables (notably carrots and cauliflower) per 85 grams, or roughly a quarter box. It also contains extra fibre from added oats.
Catelli SuperGreens are an all-natural pasta made with a blend of five green vegetables including spinach, zucchini, broccoli, parsley and kale.
According to Doyle Brown, senior brand manager with Catelli, the new products emerged from a multi-year process that reviewed and explored trends in the consumer, food, ingredient, social and retail spaces with the aim of reinvigorating the dry pasta category.
“We developed a number of concepts that we tested with consumers to help refine and develop these new products,” Brown said. “Catelli Smart Veggie was developed for moms wishing to sneak veggies into their kids’ food, while Catelli SuperGreens was developed for health-minded consumers looking to add nutritional benefits to their meals.
“Consumer research for both (products) exceeded our expectations,” Brown added. “We also were impressed with trial and purchase intent responses on both products.”
That doesn’t surprise Joel Gregoire, senior research analyst food and drink with Mintel Canada.
Gregoire is currently writing a report on the issue of vegetable-boosted foods based on feedback from consumers in omnibus polls.
“When consumers were asked ‘Thinking about pasta, rice, and/or noodles, which of the following, if any, would you be interested in trying?’ 26% of Canadians listed vegetables added to noodles,” said Gregoire.
Young women 18-34, he added, are more likely to show interest (32%), while 45% of consumers are “most likely to show interest in high fibre pasta, rice or noodles.”
This article originally appeared at CanadianGrocer.com.
