Introducing Crispy Rings: Santa Maria Expands Snack Bases Range

Snacking is on the rise with out-of-home sales in this area accelerating by 21% and set to continue growing.

As the cost of living continues to bite, and 77% of consumers identifying in Bidfood’s 2024 Trends as value-led[2], snacks allow people to enjoy eating out-of-home at a fraction of the cost of a typical lunch or dinner.

In response to this fast-growing market, Santa Maria has introduced a new product to their popular Snack Bases range – Crispy Rings – perfect for pubs, bars and restaurants. Crispy Rings are the third product within the range, joining the existing two formats Lentil Waves and Corn Cones.

Snacks Bases are the most customisable snacks on the market, enabling operators to create signature snacks on their menus and offer something different to competitors. Similar to a crisp-style product and delivered as pellets so easy to store, Snack Bases are fried in 14-20 seconds and expand up to five times when cooked. The range is vegan and gluten-free, so adaptable across all menus.

Santa Maria’s Taste Creator, Barnaby MacAdam, says: “We first launched our Snack Bases range last year and we’ve seen significant growth in sales as operators are realising the opportunity within snacking. 12 months on, we’re pleased to expand the range with the Crispy Rings.

“We encourage pub and bar operators to create signature snacks that are the reason consumers come to their establishment over others. This doesn’t have to mean complex, time-consuming snacks that require high levels of skill to make. Creating DIY snacks from scratch can be made simple.

“Simplicity is key as the hospitality sector is still battling staff and skills shortage. Operators can’t afford to scale back their food offering and miss sales opportunities; equally they can’t offer food without appropriately trained staff. Snack Bases bridge this gap. They are a genuinely easy to create product that can be made fresh-to-order by anyone on the team, offering an additional revenue stream for operators.

“The versatility of the product means they can be customised and incorporated into a huge variety of dishes on the menu. They can be simply seasoned and served on their own as a bar snack, offered as an alternative side dish to fries, sprinkled on top of mains to add a crunchy twist or loaded to create a stand-out dish of their own.

“Global flavours can be created by rubbing in our Santa Maria seasonings, such as the classic taste of Americana with our Steakhouse Seasoning, Mexican with our Fajita Seasoning or East Asian with our Kimchi Spice Mix. Operators don’t have to stick with just savoury options; a sweet bar treat could be offered by sprinkling Snack Bases in our Santa Maria Cinnamon seasoning and Vanilla Sugar.

“Load them up with fresh herbs, chillies and a squeeze of lime for a fresh, zesty dish. Or add to salads, soups, mac and cheese, poké bowls and burgers. It’s all about finding interesting ways of using them to really lift your menu.”

The new Crispy Rings are available in 3kg packets and are an ambient product with a two-year shelf life.

To find out more about the Snack Bases range visit: https://pauligpro.com/uk/snack-bases-uk