New York-based Starday has announced a new distribution partnership with Kroger.
Gooey Snacks, Starday’s chocolate hazelnut spread, will be available in nearly 2,000 Kroger-owned locations including Mariano’s, Ralphs, Frys and King Soopers – making it easy for people to get a healthy chocolate snack when they’re shopping in stores.
Starday launched in August 2021 with Gooey Snacks as its first brand under the Starday name. The brand aims to bring pleasure back to snacking by making responsible, better-for-you versions of chocolate childhood favorites. The first Gooey product is a chocolate hazelnut spread that is low sugar, all natural, vegan, gluten-free and made without palm oil.
“Our large-scale partnership with Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery chain, marks a major milestone for Starday. This rollout comes approximately six months after our direct-to-consumer launch, making Gooey one of the fastest ever digital-first brands to hit national retail shelves,” said Caroline McCarthy, co-founder and VP of growth for Starday.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Kroger and honored by their validation of our data-driven approach to creating and scaling food brands. But more importantly, this partnership means Gooey is more accessible to more people. The key for us is to meet people where they are – and for a lot of people, that’s at a grocery store.”
Starday has also launched All Day, a spice force of seasonings, that was developed by Starday co-founder Lena Kwak, former culinary strategist and innovator at a 3-star Michelin restaurant. This year will see the launch of multiple additional innovative brands and products from the Starday team.
When developing its brands, Starday analyzes thousands of data points to identify measurable areas of unmet need, leverages iterative quantitative and qualitative testing to refine key product and brand attributes and conducts extensive prototype formulation testing. With these data points driving its creativity behind brand creation, Starday makes better-for-you food brands that consumers want to be eating, using high-quality ingredients and practices that minimize environmental impact.
For more information, visit gooeysnacks.com and stardayfoods.com.
