Saffron Road® unveiled its latest innovation: a line of indulgent better-for-you Crunchy Chickpea snacks. Upholding Saffron Road’s brand promise and unwavering commitment to superior quality, premium ingredients, full transparency, and unmatched taste profiles, these dark chocolate and sweet chickpea snacks can currently be found at all Whole Foods Markets nationwide. Available in a 4.15-ounce package, the SRP is $4.49.

After being roasted to Saffron Road’s signature crunchiness, these chickpeas are then enrobed in a proprietary panning process that results in a glazed shell like an M&M candy. Unlike any other indulgent chickpea on the market, get this: no powdery dust to brush off your clothes, no melted chocolate stains on hands or face, no radically inconsistent product quality. Saffron Road’s chickpeas use antioxidant-rich Fair Trade Certified™ dark chocolate, or are swirled in buttery salted caramel and sweet, warm honey. All are dual Certified Halal and OU Kosher, as well as Gluten Free.

These new snacks will be the first of Saffron Road’s snack line to launch in the brand’s bold new packaging design. Anchored by a new brandmark with swirling scrolls, the refreshed packaging introduces a contemporary look using bold colors and intricate patterns.

Chickpea and legume snacks are a sub-segment of the high-growth better-for-you snack sector. Beans, lentils, and chickpeas are quickly gaining attention as nutritionally superior value-added foods and ingredients, based on their nutritious, sustainable, gluten-free, and Non-GMO attributes. Given consumers rapidly growing demand to use snacks as meal replacements, high-protein snacks are playing a larger role in discerning American’s eating choices. Furthermore, this move towards snacking with a health benefit is being driven by the youngest generations – Generation Z (ages 9yrs to 18yrs), Millennials, and Generation X – which together make up a large majority of the population. Americans are snacking now more than ever. Mintel estimates that nearly 94% of all Americans snack at least once a day and that Millennials snack at least four times a day. And according to A.C. Nielsen, the US snacks market is worth roughly $120 billion and growing at a compound rate of nearly 3 percent – with healthier, clean-label BFY snacks leading the charge with an over 10% CAGR in 2017 alone.