DKB organic snack bars gain national distribution

THOMASVILLE, GA. — A year after launching in two test markets, Dave’s Killer Bread Organic Snack Bars are rolling out nationwide.

“By the end of 2022, ‘BreadHeads’ — and new consumers alike — can snag a box of Cocoa Brownie Blitz, Trail Mix Crumble, or Oat-Rageous Honey Almond in nationwide retailers,” the company noted in a Dec. 20 LinkedIn posting.

The nationwide rollout follows testing in Houston at H-E-B Markets and in Maryland/Washington at Giant Foods stores.

In an investor conference call Feb. 11 by A. Ryals McMullian, president and chief executive officer of Thomasville-based Flowers, the organic snack bars were said to be part of an initiative to introduce products beyond traditional baked foods, a move that has been the subject of hints from Flowers for many years.

In May 2017, when Mr. McMullian was promoted to chief strategy officer, the company announced a strategic imperative to “capitalize on product adjacencies.” Numerous potential categories were identified, including “healthy snacking.” When his elevation to CEO was announced in February 2019, Mr. McMullian committed to taking the “necessary steps to better position Flowers for future growth in a dynamic business environment by strengthening critical brand-building capabilities, moving into growing adjacent segments.”

The move into snack bars showcases Flowers’ competency to develop new products, Mr. McMullian said in his remarks Feb. 11. He noted that the move into snack bars followed a series of line extensions that demonstrated the DKB brand could succeed in product lines beyond sliced bread. He said the company’s “new agile innovation group” is “tasked with accelerating the development of truly innovative new products that are outside of our core categories.”

“DKB’s brand strength enables it to expand to different categories in ways that other brands can’t,” Mr. McMullian said. “When our loyal DKB consumers, affectionately known as ‘BreadHeads,’ expressed a desire for DKB products beyond loaf bread, we introduced bagels, English muffins and burger buns, all of which have been met with strong demand. That success gave us the confidence to expand the product line beyond bread. The snack bars are being tested in several markets and have shown strong initial results that are exceeding our own expectations. We’re excited about the promise of these new products and the potential for additional developments from our agile innovation group. Our pipeline is full, and we plan to bring more innovation to market later this year.”