Known to parents as "squeezies" or "tubes," the pouches have a hard plastic spout, slightly wider than a standard straw, that can be sucked or used to squeeze out the food. Sales of pouch-style baby food more than doubled in the last three months, while baby food in jars and tubs was down 15%, according to data from pouch maker Plum Organics based on research from SymphonyIRI, a market-data firm. Makers tout the pouches, which often include organic produce and trendy ingredients such as kale, as a way for children to quickly and independently ingest fruits and vegetables.
For adults, companies including Happy Family, Buddy Fruits and GoGo squeeZ are experimenting with larger portion sizes, simpler designs and sophisticated flavors like cranberry or açaí.
GoGo squeeZ, an applesauce line owned by Materne France, spent more than a year doing consumer research for a more grown-up version of its products. "Fast Fruit" will be released later this year in a larger size, after research showed adults want to know they are eating a full serving of fruit.
The package is simple and white, not bright green like the company's original products. Instead of applesauce and strawberry, the company created combinations like apple (dropping the word "sauce")/raspberry/cranberry and apple/peach/ passion fruit. In tests, basil or mint went too far, but the company is studying what "functional" ingredients such as fiber, antioxidants or super fruits adults prefer.
Last year, Happy Family introduced the Happy Squeeze line of pouches aimed at grown-ups. A "Treat" version comes in chocolate/pear or caramel apple. "Coco" includes coconut milk, a trendy ingredient with adults, says Shazi Visram, chief executive of Nurture Inc., which operates Happy Family.
Companies expect the pouches to succeed with adults for some of the same reasons they do in the baby market. Pouches hit most of the big eating trends today. U.S. consumers continue to eat a lot in cars. People are snacking more instead of cooking meals. They want healthy, exciting food that still tastes good. Enter the pouch—consumed in seconds through a nozzle held in one hand.
The challenge is convincing adults to eat them in public. "Some people do it in their home. They'll do it at their desk. But they feel silly doing it in front of people," says Jeannette Cornell, director of consumer and retailer insights for GoGo squeeZ.
Raquel Tenorio-Boyer, of Berrien Springs, Mich., is often teased by co-workers or friends when she slurps a Happy Squeeze caramel apple-flavored pouch at her desk or friends' houses. They say "it looks like those little pouches that kids take to kindergarten," says the 39-year-old, who eats about four of the pouches a week. She says that as a vegan, she is used to "explaining my food." Still, when she's at her job as a front-desk receptionist at a university, she hopes no one sees her eat every last drop by rolling up the pouch "like a tube of toothpaste."
More than a decade ago, Yoplait Go-Gurt attempted to launch an adult version of its colorful yogurt sucked from a tear at the end of a long tube. Aimed at women, "Yoplait Expresse" quickly disappeared from the market. "We learned that this format didn't work with adult consumers at the time," says a spokeswoman for General Mills Inc., which owns Yoplait.
Cordina New Orleans Cocktails makes a "Mar-Go-Rita" and "Daiq-Go-Ri" in individually portioned pouches drunk through a plastic nozzle with a straw. "We get emails and calls saying, 'what do I do with it?' " says Brandon Davidson, marketing director for the New Orleans based company. "We are like, you literally open and drink," he says. The drinks are marketed for picnics, outdoor or festival settings, he says.
But food-pouch companies say serious athletes, accustomed to sucking down energy gel and other quick snacks during long runs or bicycle rides, have been early adopters. "We get stories every day of people using this as healthy snacks or pre- or post-workout snacks," says Neil Grimmer, chief executive of Plum Organics, an Emeryville, Calif.-based company that makes pouches and toddler and kid snacks. "It was athletes that socialized [the] idea of eating an extruded bar into the mainstream," he says, referring to PowerBar and similar products. GoGo squeeZ has noticed young adults posting pictures of themselves eating pouch applesauce on social-media platforms like Instagram.
Plum hasn't introduced an adult pouch product but is looking at the concept, perhaps in a slightly different type of package. Mr. Grimmer says its Fruit & Veggie Mashups line is currently "kind of an all-family line."
Kids (and those purchasing their food) have taken to pouches quickly. Last year, about 40% of new baby-food products or flavors came in pouches. In 2007, 2% of new baby-food products or flavors entered the market in a pouch, according to Benjamin Punchard, senior global packaging analyst at Mintel. Companies credit the combination of convenience and healthiness: Children can independently squeeze down a snack in record time, "but they are eating broccoli," says Ms. Visram.
Pouches are made of thin layers of plastic surrounding an aluminum core. The purée is generally cooked at a lower temperature in pouches than in jars, preserving more of the vitamins and nutrients, say the companies that make them. Food in pouches that needs to be pasteurized can be heated to about 160 degrees, while food in glass jars is generally heated to about 250 degrees, says Paul Lindley, chief executive of Ella's Kitchen, one of the first producers of baby food in pouches.
In another sign of pouches' popularity for children, reusable versions are rapidly proliferating. Companies including GoFreshBaby, Squooshi, and the Little Green Pouch now offer pouches that can be refilled and cleaned in a dishwasher.
After getting requests from customers, San Mateo, Calif.-based Little Green Pouch is considering making a larger 12-ounce pouch aimed at adults, says co-owner Melissa Winn. "It's important the pouch still fits in a cup holder" of a car, she says.
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