Prior to the pandemic, diners were growing acutely aware of how to read food labels, and as a result, healthier ingredients and menu items were trending upward. The pandemic has taken that idea even further, with consumers more concerned than ever before with health, nutrition, and better-for-you ingredients that can help protect consumers from illness. 

At the same time, what drives consumer interest in certain foods remains unchanged: it must be craveable and delicious. That’s particularly true when it comes to the fickle tastes of children—parents often struggle to find something healthy that their kids will still enjoy. A solution to that problem, says Todd Michael, director of foodservice sales at Knouse Foodservice, is Musselman’s Apple Sauce. 

“Apple sauce is one of the few better-for-you concepts that kids actually like,” Michael says. “In a typical kid’s meal, the side is french fries. Well, apple sauce is a much healthier execution of that, yet they still love the taste.” 

Available in various flavors and sizes, Musselman’s single-serve apple sauce has a number of advantages for operators that go beyond the fact that it’s healthy and kids will love it. Another reason three of the top ten quick-serve brands already menu Musselman’s is due to its packaging that makes it a zero labor, single touch & sealed, grab-and-go offerings ideal for a pandemic and post-pandemic world. It’s also a shelf stable way to offer fresh fruit, with the product lasting up to two years without spoilage. 

“A very large quick-serve brand that we work with used to assume a 40 percent food waste on their fresh fruit,” Michael says. “They reached out to us because they wanted to reduce waste and spoilage. Now they have zero waste thanks to menuing Musselman’s apple sauce.” 

“Additionally, what differentiates Musselman’s products from competitors is that it is a grower-owned company, meaning that the farmers who are handpicking the 100-percent American-grown apples are truly invested in the product being as good as it can be,” says Bob Fisher, vice president of marketing at Knouse Foods. “That information is now being told on Musselman’s single-serve packaging, and it’s a story that will help Musselman’s connect with diners that are increasingly interested in the story of where foods are coming from.” 

To find out more about how to menu a healthy, shelf stable product, visit the Musselman’s website.