Started by founder Matt Weiss in 2017, RIND is a better-for-you snack brand focused on whole fruit nutrition. “The greatest concentration of fiber, vitamins, and nutrients are in the one part of the fruit most commonly discarded – the peel. RIND’s mission is to maximize nutrition and minimize waste through our line of bold tangy and crave-able dried fruit snacks,” said Matt.

 RIND co-founder Ben Cohn added, “We both came from careers in finance before we left to run RIND full time, and I actually had a lot of snack discovery at my office. There were always bags of new stuff. I think that’s a really great platform for discovery and people like to snack when they're working. It's just a great opportunity to continue that in a world where people are home.” With much of SnackMagic’s customer base being WFH snackers, SnackMagic is the optimal platform for young brands to get their products in front of people seeking out new products to try.

Young CPG brands like RIND had to rethink their distribution strategy this year with the impact of COVID-19, which prompted the challenge of how to reach customers who are now at home all the time. Prior to this year, RIND had considered supplying its products to corporate clients who would enjoy RIND snacks throughout the day as part of their in-office benefits. “Before the pandemic, we were in talks to launch in more traditional corporate campus canteens and micro­ kitchens, and obviously that avenue really closed down as stay at home orders went into effect,” said Matt. “We found the idea of reaching office snackers who were partaking in endless Zooms very compelling.”

As many traditional retail channels have now prioritized essential items, there isn’t much space for consumer discovery anymore and there isn’t an office space to distribute these snacks either. For that reason, there are limited channels available for getting samples out to potential customers. “The world is changing, so a lot of the traditional retail avenues for trial and sampling have been closed during COVID,” explained Matt. “We view an opportunity like this to be part of a healthy assortment that goes to employees, consumers, and small businesses, as an attractive way to get our brand out there and showcase our differentiation to our target audience.” As a platform that targets consumers looking for new products to try, SnackMagic acts as a sampling stash for new brands and fills the void that in-person sampling once occupied.

As an innovative brand, RIND needed an equally innovative platform to showcase its delicious products. RIND connected with SnackMagic after discussions with other founders of young CPG brands. “We heard through word-of-mouth that SnackMagic was a really interesting program that was highly relevant to the times we are living in, and we wanted to make sure our brand resonates in a very omnichannel way,” said Matt. “We are linking up with lots of thought leaders that are pioneering new channels for healthy options for snackers that are working from home or needing more convenient on-the-go nutrition. SnackMagic was put on our radar by some of our conversations with fellow brands, and that was what prompted the outreach.”

By providing a distribution tool that is both easy to monitor and simple to manage, SnackMagic is a discovery platform for young brands that offers collaborative features other larger retailers cannot. SnackMagic an ideal solution for brands like RIND who are seeking full data transparency, consistent communication, and results-based promotion from a retail channel that has their best interests in mind. “We had a pretty seamless onboarding. We were able to get product outbound to your facility in a relatively short amount of time and then get on to the platform right away and started seeing results immediately,” said Matt.

With live tracking features, SnackMagic brands have the ability to see how their product is doing in real-time, which allows us to work together with full transparency. By providing brand partners with daily updates on important metrics that are helpful with sales, marketing, and insightful analytics, SnackMagic has proven to be an innovative omnichannel platform and an ideal alternative to traditional retail channels, such as grocery stores.

“SnackMagic provides a unique discovery opportunity for both brands and consumers. Many people who are working from home have gotten into a routine of ordering the same grocery items each week from whatever their go-to app happens to be. SnackMagic provides an opportunity to try something new without needing to head to the grocery store and walk the aisles.”

As the majority of SnackMagic customers received SnackMagic as a gift, snackers have the excitement of browsing our menu with the intention of impulsively adding things to their cart, making brand discovery is the core of the SnackMagic model. “I think it's an incremental audience that we're getting in front of, for example, like a B2C corporate sort of amenity. It's a different consumer than those that are browsing in grocery stores, which have also been hit,” explained Matt. “The notion of discovery has been less important in the environment where people just want to get in and out of public places, so I think the idea of a curated customized box of great nutritious snacks makes a lot of sense. SnackMagic seems to be a winning platform, so we're pleased to be linked up with you guys.”

After five months of business together, RIND has become a standout brand at SnackMagic with a healthy daily velocity for a premium product. “We were pleasantly surprised to see how well our Straw-Peary SKU started moving as soon as it hit the platform. We quickly had to reorder because there was a pretty significant amount of buying for that,” said Ben.

With over 500 products on our menu and a well-rounded Core Brand program that facilitates rapid sales and ample promotion, SnackMagic is a unique channel during a unique time for young brands that need a boost. “You guys have a really cool differentiated approach. I think you're showing real results to young brands, and I don't think your story is being told enough. What you guys are doing is highly relevant!”