Pastry chef turned snack-o-holic, Christy Loekitois wanted to bring wonder and excitement to snack foods. The team at SupermarketNews caught up with The Wondersnack Co to find out more about this new frontier in snack foods.
What is your company background, how did you start the business?
The Wondersnack Co. was started back in 2012, when owner Christy, who had a cake stall at a local farmers’ market, had to decide on whether to commit full time or to choose to do something else.
“While working part-time in food retail, I noticed a gap in the market for premium, small-batch, savoury snacks in exciting flavours, made without additives, preservatives, or colourings. I decided to test some recipes using nuts (because they require the least amount of processing), drawing on my experience in balancing flavours and ingredients as you do in cakes.”
What is the current product range and variants and how do these products stand out in the market?
Wonderstruck standouts with their unique proprietary processing technique that allows for creative flavours that cannot be easily replicated in mass production.
“Our positioning has always been indulgent snacks that go with great spirits. We currently have three products, all of which go well with a range of drinks, from wine, whisky, craft beer, cocktails, gin, and other craft spirits.
Our current flavours are:
The Hangover- Australian peanuts roasted in free-range duck fat, A-grade maple syrup, locally-made Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, and secret spices.
Street Cart- Australian peanuts and cashews in an aromatic satay-inspired blend of shrimp paste, garlic, kaffir lime, and fish sauce.
Kamikaze- Australian peanuts and almonds in spicy honey, miso, and sesame glaze.
We are waiting on shelf life test results on two new products to be released next year, which we are excited about. One will be our very first vegan/plant-based blend.”
Has there been any recent company news?
“We’ve recently given our packaging a complete makeover and introduced a new packaging format that has been specially designed for the luxury gifting market. We have also launched into Singapore with our local distribution partner. We are very excited to explore this opportunity in greater scope as we work alongside them to develop the local market.”
What are the plans for the business moving forward, is there any expansion on the horizon?
“We would like to expand our distribution into WA and the rest of Australia, which is something we’ve been working towards for quite some time; it’s all about finding the right distribution partner/retailer. Currently, we are ranged in a handful of five star and luxury boutique hotels, and are hoping to be ranged into more properties in the future and well as looking at a couple of other export opportunities.”
Where are your products currently available to buy, and are you looking at or wanting to expand your availability?
“We supply a number of bars, specialty bottle shops, grocers, hotels, and event and entertainment centres, and we do have an online shop which ships nation-wide in Australia, and internationally to Singapore, Hong Kong, and New Zealand. We are also always working on expanding our retail and distribution footprint so that our products are more readily available in more places.”
