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Marshmallow manufacturer Doumak looks to inject some excitement into a squishy product, which doubles as a baking ingredient and a confectionery treat.
Although marshmallows may not hold as coveted a title as chocolate does - Theobroma, the food of the gods - they still do have a royal heritage, one that goes back to 2000 B.C. Using the root of the mallow plant, typically found in marshes, Egyptian priests prepared a mix of mallow and honey to create super-sweet delicacies reserved only for the pharaohs.
Today, the ubiquitous marshmallow winds up most often in the kitchen pantry, ready to be incorporated into gelatin moulds, hot cocoa, fruit salads or candied yams. Thanks to those clever Girl Scouts, roasted marshmallows (sandwiched between graham crackers and chocolate) also have become a hallowed campfi re tradition in the form of s'mores.
Of course, marshmallows also are simply consumed as a sweet treat, a fact that Elk Grove Village, Ill-based Doumak, Inc. believes offers enormous potential for growing the category, says Mark Schuessler, the company's vice president of sales and marketing.
Core consumers of the category, estimated at $180 million in the United States, are parents with young children, he notes. That number includes parents whose ages range from 20 to 50, Schuessler adds.
During a series of consumer focus groups held last December, Schuessler, along with director of sales Donald Muff, discovered some interesting truisms while soliciting opinions on the company's newest product rollout: fruitswirlers.
"First, marshmallows are commonly used for snacking by these parents - we just didn't understand the magnitude," Schuessler says. "Yes, they're used for making s'mores and Rice Krispies treats, but they're also used as an alternative to high-fat, high-calorie snacks. They are also gluten-free, which resonates with moms."
Consumers expressed interest in seeing some innovation in the category, beginning with packaging and continuing through product size.
"For moms, the regular size was too large and the minis proved to be a pain, spilling out everywhere," he says.
As it turned out, fruitswirlers addressed several of those needs. Developed over a period of eight months, the product had - like many innovations - familiar origins.
"During production of fl avored marshmallows, we'd notice that occasionally an injector would go out, causing the...