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Prepared Foods, April 15, 1993 by Mike Pehanich

While low fat is important to the consumer, the product also must taste good. The Wholesome Choice bread line represents this philosophy of flavorful nutrition. Its breads are grainy and low in fat. The bread is not targeted to the health food market, but at the mainstream consumer who is becoming more health-conscious.

The Crunchy Baked snack is another example. While the product line is clearly a snack, it is baked and not fried. Crunchy Baked snacks have been tested in Florida for the past year and recently expanded into the New England market.

"The real motivator with Crunchy Baked snacks is that Pepperidge Farm bakes in the good flavors and uses real ingredients to get flavor," says Edie Anderson, director of marketing, bakery business unit. "When it says cheddar cheese, there is real cheddar cheese and not an artificial flavor."

A COOKIE MONSTER'S FANTASY

In the past year, Pepperidge Farm has indulged in an ambitious cookie line expansion. Soft Baked cookies is its attempt to cash in on soft cookie popularity; the Family Request cookie line appeals to the mass cookie market. The company is expanding its Milano cookies to include double chocolate and hazel nut. With assistance from its European sister company, Delacre, Pepperidge Farm presented the Favorites assortment of popular Pepperidge Farm cookies.

"Our strategy always has been to be innovative and seek out areas where the mass cookie producers might not enter," says Bob Urbain, vice president and general manager, biscuit business unit.

Pepperidge Farm is repackaging and repositioning many of its popular products. But in the end, wholesomeness, natural flavors, high-tech baking procedures, and quality will remain Pepperidge Farm's key ingredients.