2Betties started the way the best snacks do: out of frustration and a little kitchen experimental magic. While in college, co-founder Bridget was in need of a healthier snack that hit the sweet spot between indulgent and wholesome. Everything was either a brownie, a cookie or a protein bar with a chalky, weird texture. So, she raided her parents’ pantry, grabbed some staple ingredients (hi, walnuts) and got to work. What came out of the oven was a game-changing snack. We caught up with Bridget to chat about her brand’s big move from doughnut rounds to bites and why walnuts have been part of the story since day one.
Walk us through the strategic reasoning behind the shift from rounds to bite format.
2Betties is not trying to be a healthy chocolate chip cookie or a healthy fill in the blank. It was, at the time, sort of its own thing. So, we (co-founder/daughter Bridget and co-founder/mom Nancy) decided to turn the product that was just little bites at that time into a mini doughnut shape to try to play on ‘healthy but delicious’. We launched in 2018, and we were committed to that shape for a long time. Part of why is that we’re also a manufacturer of the snack because most manufacturers are like, ‘If you walk into a grocery store, there’s not many doughnut-shaped granola bars.’ So we said we were going to do it.
Then we looked at the data and in talking to our customers, it wasn’t the shape as to why they were buying the product. They were buying the product because of the ingredient list, the nutrition fact panel and how the product made them feel. The shape was just sort of an afterthought. If anything, it was adding friction to purchase for our customer—people who didn’t know what the product was. It wasn’t a doughnut, it’s not a doughnut texture, so it’s a little too much for them to understand. Like if I’m going to eat a doughnut, I want the real thing, right?
How did walnuts become part of the original ingredient list?
Back to the founding story, I went into the pantry and just grabbed ingredients we already had, and walnuts were one of those ingredients. Walnuts are something that I use multiple times a week, on salads or on top of different things or just as a snack themselves. Along with maple syrup and honey, those are the core ingredients in the transition from rounds to bites.
What do walnuts bring functionally to the bite format?
From a product development point of view, when we went through this change and relaunched, we were committed to keeping walnuts because they really do create a great mouthfeel and texture. I think they’re an ingredient that is not as common to find in snacks, and with ours it works and the customers really like it. We will be at events and people will be like, ‘Oh wow, there’s walnuts in it!’ Everyone knows that brownies are better with walnuts in them, right? Our product is sort of a baked, indulgent snack, so they really do work in that capacity.
You talk about surprising and delighting consumers.
We’re not an allergen-free product, so our customers are already indexing toward being able to eat tree nuts. They want nuts. They’re excited that there is a product that fits what they’re looking for. We do have a food scientist and we’re third-party audited. Anything that’s supportive to helping make sure that we’re making the best possible product for our consumers. I am a consumer too, right? So I do like to surprise and delight, and I think our ingredients are one way. Weeks ago at an event a customer’s eyes lit up and said they couldn’t believe we had walnuts in our product. In this brand relaunch, it was a simplification of the product and the brand. We’re focused on our five best, most popular SKUs: Chocolate Chunk, Maple Cinnamon, Chocolate Chip, Lemon and Sweet Almond. Although, you know, we should do a Sweet Walnut.
See how 2Betties puts walnuts to work at 2Betties.com.
