PepsiCo's Walkers brand has announced the launch of a new range of products under its popular Wotsits and Monster Munch brands in the UK, which are made with chickpea and classify as non-HFSS.
The new products include Wotsits Cheese Toastie (57 calories per pack), Wotsits Crispy Bacon (57 calories per pack) and Monster Munch BBQ Sauce (76 calories per pack), with each product 25 lower in salt than the typical extruded snack product, while also offering a source of fibre.
The introduction of the new products follows on from PepsiCo’s £58 million (€68.3 million) investment in its Walkers factory in Leicester last year, which saw a new manufacturing line introduced, as well as upgraded facilities at the site to enhance snack production.
'Diverse Ingredients'
Commenting on the introduction of the new lines, Karen Scott, head of portfolio transformation at PepsiCo, said, "We’re always looking for new ways to bring people a greater variety of products that include diverse ingredients while maintaining the trademark taste and quality Walkers is known for.
"After years of continuously evolving our portfolio and working closely with our R&D teams, we’re excited to be launching our first chickpea-based product with three brand-new flavours of our popular Wotsits and Monster Munch classics. We can’t wait to hear the feedback from consumers.”
PepsiCo is 'on track' to have 50% of its snack sales come from products that are non-HFSS or sold in portions of 100 calories or less by 2025, it noted, with recent innovations in this area including Walkers 45% Less Salt, Doritos Dippers and PopWorks.
'This commitment to inspiring consumers to make positive choices forms part of PepsiCo Positive, the company’s health and sustainability plan,' the company said. 'It also contributes to PepsiCo’s global ambition to expand the use of diverse ingredients like chickpea across its portfolio.'
