A new brand of chocolate-covered crunchy carrot biscuits has been launched to satisfy demand for indulgent guilt-free treats.
Rootles is a new concept in the snack bar sector and is believed to be the first, and only, indulgent treat that is vegetable based to hit the impulse snacking category.
Currently available in two flavours, dark chocolate and milk chocolate, each pack of Rootles contains three crunchy carrot biscuit fingers smothered in delicious chocolate. And at 120 calories per pack, has fewer calories than many other snack bars because the biscuits are naturally sweetened with nutritious root veggies.
Baked with over 35% root veg and featuring carrot, along with a dash of sweet potato, Rootles are high in fibre and contain less sugar and fat than many chocolate snacks.
Rootles are suitable for food-to-go, speciality food stores, coffee shops, convenience stores and other food service and retail outlets, and are just perfect for feel-good snacking.
The Rootles brand has been developed by Helen Yates, who co-runs Luke Evans Bakery in Derbyshire with her husband David. Luke Evans Bakery is one of the oldest family-run bakeries in the country, with a history stretching back to 1804.
Rootles are currently made in North Macedonia to a recipe that has been perfected over many months and have a shelf life of at least seven months delivered.
Helen was inspired to develop the product through her work mentoring and supporting international business students at the University of Nottingham. The concept of using veg in biscuits was developed as a market research project, which sparked her interest in the idea.
Later, Helen received funded support from Mission Ventures and the Good Food Fund, which identified Rootles as being a winning healthy snack to help fight obesity.
Helen said: “The Covid pandemic has led to a greater focus on health and Rootles are the perfect product for guilt-free snacking, as they are high fibre and contain just 120 calories per pack – fewer than many other snack bars. Consumers are looking for healthier snacks, particularly in the impulse snacking sector, but they don’t expect to compromise on taste or texture and still want to treat themselves. Veg has been added to cakes for a long time but we’ve taken the concept a stage further and developed biscuit bars using root vegetables.
“Rootles taste like a traditional chocolate biscuit but are naturally sweetened with carrot and sweet potato. They are deliciously unconventional and really have to be tasted to be believed!”
Recommended retail selling price of Rootles is £1.00-1.20 per 27g pack.