Nature’s Promise brand adds children’s line

Ahold Delhaize USA is extending its Nature’s Promise better-for-you brand with a new line for children.

Called Nature’s Promise Kids, the products will begin rolling out to Food Lion, Giant Food, Giant/Martin’s, Hannaford and Stop & Shop supermarkets over the next several months, Ahold Delhaize USA’s Retail Business Services (RBS) arm said Thursday. The child-friendly items also will be sold through the Peapod online grocery service.

The first two items being launched are Nature’s Promise Kids Sparkling Seltzer Water and Nature’s Promise Kids Squeezable Fruit Pouches. As more of the products are introduced, the new line’s in-store availability and assortment will vary by retail banner, with the items hitting shelves across the stores between now and the end of the year, according to RBS.

“Families should be able to provide their children with products they feel confident in,” Juan De Paoli, senior vice president of private brands for RBS, said in a statement. “No one believes this more than the local grocery retail brands we support that have elected to carry this new line. In fact, Nature’s Promise Kids is a result of conversations with our grocery retail partners about what they are hearing from their customers.”

For children ages 4 and older, Nature’s Promise Kids foods are nutritionally equivalent or better than similar traditional products, RBS said. The items don’t contain synthetic colors, artificial flavors, artificial preservatives, sweeteners, MSG or high-fructose corn syrup, in line with the company’s plan to remove those ingredients from all of its private brand products by 2025.

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RBS noted that the Nature’s Promise Kids products also contain no more than 500 mg of added sodium per serving; no more than 40% of calories from added sugar; no more than 10% of calories from saturated fat (except for nut, meat, poultry and dairy items); and one or more vitamins and/or minerals at 10% daily value or higher (if relevant to the product category).

Nature’s Promise Kids Sparkling Seltzer Water is naturally flavored and contains no synthetic color, artificial flavors or juice, the company said. The seltzer, sold in six-packs of 7.5-ounce cans, comes in such flavors as blue raspberry, bubble gum, cotton candy, pink lemonade, sour green apple and wild cherry.

Meanwhile, the gluten- and BPA-free Nature’s Promise Kids Squeezable Fruit is made with real fruit and has no sugar, synthetic color or artificial flavors. In 3.2-ounce pouches of 50 calories each, the snack comes in apple cinnamon, apple strawberry, apple berry banana, apple mango and apple mango banana varieties.

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“Nature’s Promise Kids is an answer to the demand from today’s families for products free from unwanted ingredients at an unsurpassed value,” De Paoli added.

Carlisle, Pa.-based Giant Food Stores said Thursday that select Nature’s Promise Kids items are already in stores, and it plans to launch more over the next year at all 181 of its Giant, Martin’s Food Markets and Giant Heirloom Market locations. The initial seltzer and squeezable fruit products are slated to be followed by apple slices, fruit snacks, cereal and other offerings.

“Our new Nature’s Promise Kids builds on the success of Nature’s Promise, a brand our customers have loved and trusted for more than 15 years,” stated John Ruane, chief merchandising officer at Giant. “Arriving in stores just in time for the start of the new school year, Nature’s Promise Kids offers parents affordable, high-quality and great-tasting lunchtime solutions. We’re excited to introduce these new products, as we’re sure they will become customer favorites.”

Ahold Delhaize USA has made Nature's Promise, among its other exclusive brands, a key growth component. The natural, free-from brand includes a range of competitively priced, wholesome products across the store, and many of the items are certified organic. All edible, plant-based Nature’s Promise products contain only non-GMO ingredients.

“Private brands are very important for customers,” Giant/Martin’s President Nicholas Bertram said in an interview. “Right now, we're fortunate to have Nature's Promise, which is a very strong brand and continuing to grow.”