Fruit ingredients, freeze-drying and healthy snack solutions company Paradise Fruits has appointed Carbocraft, a food ingredients and raw materials supplier, as its new agency for the South African market.
Carbocraft will be the main distribution partner covering Paradise Garden and Freeze Dried divisions, as well as the Solutions division which offers fruit snack products such as Pure Fruit Shapes, Fruit Juice Drops and fruit granulates for bakery and snack bar applications. Fruit Juice Drops from Paradise Fruits Solutions are made with 80% fruit, lending them, claims the company, a delicious soft bite and juicy freshness, perfect as a tasty snack on their own or a novel inclusion in chocolates and bakery pre-mixes.
Initially developed for the American market, Paradise Fruits says that demand for these products has since rocketed in Europe and now in South Africa, stimulating the opening of an additional production line at the Paradise Fruits facility in Northern Germany.
South Africa is of interest from the food ingredients perspective because it is the leading manufacturing country on the African continent, Paradise Fruits says, and South African lifestyles are becoming increasingly busy in tandem with growing urbanisation. This, believes the company, is driving consumers towards quick, convenient and healthy foods which they can snack on between meals, resulting in the rise of sweet and savoury snacks. The sweet and savoury snacks market in South Africa is expected to record a constant value CAGR of 2% over the forecast period and a volume CAGR of 4%. New product launches such as healthier alternatives and localised flavour variants are expected to be key driving forces for the category’s performance during the forecast period, the company said.
“We have seen growth in Europe, UK and North America for healthier, more natural products, and as a result we experienced a real demand for greater innovation on our part,” said Kurt Jahncke, CEO of Paradise Fruits. “This has led to a growing number of forms and formats that are delivered on a healthy fruit platform and we look forward to working with Carbocraft and South African companies to bring these ideas to the local market. The appointment of Carbocraft as our South African agency is part of our mission to build and align our global market identity, by working with existing and new partners to tailor specialist solutions which anticipate evolving global market needs.”
“Carbocraft is excited to work with an innovative and quality-oriented company such as Paradise Fruits Solutions, and we envisage a long and “fruitful” association together in South Africa,” said Peter Niederheitmann, managing director of Carbocraft. “The South African healthy snacking and fruit snacking sectors are still in their infancy compared to its European and US counterparts. There is an emerging demand for products that deliver on clean label, real fruit and no artificial flavours and colours. Pure Fruit Shapes and Fruit Juice Drops offered by Paradise Fruits Solutions are the right product to satisfy this demand and we look forward to offering them in the local market.”
