Whatcom manufacturer of healthy snacks hopes new flavors help the business grow
A growing Ferndale food manufacturer is hoping for another boost in sales after introducing a new packaging design and new names for its snacks.
NutraDried Food Company announced the Moon Cheese changes last month. They include two new varieties called Garlickin’ Parmesan and Cheddar Bacon Me Crazy. Those were added to other cheese snack flavors like Cheddar Believe It, Oh My Gouda and Get Pepper Jacked.
The company uses patented technology to remove only the moisture from cheese without impacting the nutrition or flavor, according to the Moon Cheese website. The company considers its product to be a part of the healthy snack industry because it only has cheese as an ingredient and is high protein, no sugar and low carbs, according to an email from the company.
Sales of the product started off slow, but have soared in recent years as it gets into more stores. What’s been attractive to customers is that it is a healthy snack that doesn’t spoil easily with its resealable bags. It’s a healthy dairy snack that is available at any time, said Mike Pytlinski, CEO of NutraDried, in a news release accompanying the recent packaging announcement.
Moon Cheese got its start in 2013 by EnWave Corporation, a company based in Vancouver, B.C., as a proof-of-concept for its radiant energy vacuum technology. Today Moon Cheese has its products in more than 25,000 retail stores, including Whole Foods and Costco. The company is also planning to expand in the Canadian market this year; currently it is in select retail stores.
The 33,000-square-foot Ferndale facility, which is in a business park near Grandview Road, currently employs about 80 people.
