Potato Chips To Health Food: Inventure And The Future Of Snacktime

The world of snack foods is a Manichean struggle for the soul of your stomach. Do you reach for the tasty, high-calorie, additives-rich mozzarella sticks–or less processed, lower-calorie fruits and veggies? Inventure Foods of Phoenix isn’t picking sides. It plays to both our better and worse angels of appetite. “We still believe in the ‘indulgent’ food business–it pays some bills, and we don’t want it to completely go away,” says CEO Terry McDaniel, 57. “But our focus–and most of our growth–has been the ‘healthier natural’ side.”

That side generates 80% of Inventure’s $253 million in sales. So-called healthier natural can mean just about anything: Rader Farms frozen berries sold in Costco and others; the Fresh Frozen Foods label, ubiquitous throughout grocery stores in the Southeast; smoothies mixes for Jamba JMBA +0.48% Juice; and “totally natural” potato chips from Boulder Canyon.

While Inventure’s roots are in “indulgent” foods–Poore Brothers kettle chips, as well as snacks for Nathan's Famous , TGI Fridays and Vidalia Brands–that category is growing at 2.8% a year nationwide. Back in 2006 the company decided to branch out into healthier snacks, growing at 12% a year. (Natural and organic foods and beverages are expected to surpass $78 billion next year.)

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