From bars to jelly products to crunchy formats, startups are finding a variety of snacks to make their own. New York-based Oddball, for example, is aiming to compete with the 126-year-old Jell-O brand. Oddball’s line features plant-based jelly snacks that have been formulated with a full serving of fruit and no preservatives, sugar or gelatin. The flavors include grapefruit, berry and mango coconut.

Sophia Cheng, founder and chief executive officer, who describes Oddball as “a superfruit jiggly snack,” partnered with a Michelin-starred chef to develop the products, which have been rolling out to specialty grocers in New York this year. Native of Singapore and Hong Kong, Ms. Cheng saw an opportunity to expand the jelly category, which is a $5 billion market in China.

“When I came to the US for college …  I thought it was really strange that Jell-O was the only brand of jelly and also the category here,” she said in an interview with Food Entrepreneur. “In Asia, jellies are a huge industry because fruit is such a big part of our culture, and it is a more fun way to eat fruit.”

By innovating within snacking categories that consumers already enjoy, startups have the opportunity to add functional ingredients to their formulations.

“Emerging brands are expanding the bounds of traditional snacking categories, and challenging mainstream companies with innovative new offerings,” said Monica Watrous, managing editor of Food Business News and  Food Entrepreneur, in Food Business News’ “What’s next in snack innovation?” webinar.

Toto is bringing functional desserts to market with its line of gut-friendly cookies. The brand was created through founder and chief executive officer Sydney Webb’s health journey through Crohn’s disease and colon cancer. The cookie ingredients, which work toward promoting immunity and gut health, feature adaptogens like turkey tail and reishi, as well as coconut sugar.

“I wanted to find a way to make these cookies delicious and nourishing,” Ms. Webb said. “I wanted to find a way to make things that are healthy to taste amazing but to do it in a way that is really beneficial to the body.”

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