Pandemic Lockdown – and Great Taste – Unlock Strong Demand for Prime Planet Tostones

Better health and wellness are the primary drivers among today’s consumers – an idea that was further amplified during COVID, as people began focusing more than ever on food quality and nutrition.

 

“We all witnessed how the pandemic turned the food industry upside down overnight,” says Prime Planet’s Marie Gonzalez, “but now we are seeing that many of those changes are here to stay.” Gonzalez is head of Business Development for Miami-based Prime Planet, purveyors of all-natural green plantain chips, or Tostones.

 

Several studies are now showing how lockdown measures caused lasting behavioral changes in relation to food selection and consumption – and how consumers continue to choose healthy and sustainable diets. These new habits also include eating more varied foods – especially when it comes to snack products.

 

Prime Planet is way ahead of the curve as its wide variety of “better for you” Tostones snacks have long been a favorite among health-conscious shoppers.

 

“And now, as the brand moves further into the mainstream American snack market, Prime Planet is aligning with a growing number of national distributors and retail food chains looking to meet the new demand for healthier snack options,” she says.

 

“Of course it also helps that our chips are truly delicious – and come in four unique flavors,” stresses Gonzalez, including Original, Sweet Chili, Lime, and Habenaro.

 

Here’s the rundown on the top nutritional qualities of Prime Planet Tostones that stand out most to health-conscious shoppers all across the U.S.

 

No Preservatives

Foods on the market that contain the most preservatives are processed, packaged foods like crackers, cereals, breads, and snacks. Preservatives are added to food to fight spoilage caused by bacteria, molds, fungus, and yeast – whereby keeping food fresher for longer periods of time.

 

Sounds good, right. Well, there’s more to the story. One of the most harmful effects of preservatives in food items is their ability to transform into carcinogen agents. Sustained and excessive consumption of artificial preservatives can also weaken heart tissues, which is especially dangerous for the aged people.

 

No bueno, says Prime Planet. We can live without that!

 

Low Sodium 

Sodium is an important mineral that performs many essential functions in your body. But like many things, too much can bring on too many problems. Excess salt in a diet is often troublesome for people with conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and kidney disease.

 

Many unhealthy foods are extremely high in sodium. Fast food, packaged items, and many popular snack foods are not only loaded with salt but also tend to be high in unhealthy fats and calories.

 

It’s good to have options – and Prime Planet is the healthier one.

 

No Added Sugars

Prime Planet can make the claim that its products have “no added sugars.” In other words, our chips are not processed with any sugar or sugar-containing ingredients.

 

While naturally occurring sugar in fruits and vegetables is part of a healthy diet, added sugar in soft drinks, snacks, and processed foods should be consumed at a minimum. Products without added sugar can of course contain naturally occurring sugar, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing – it’s the way we consume it that can be detrimental to our health.

 

The benefit of less added sugar is that it may help stop weight gain and fat buildup linked to heart disease. The benefit also is our chips taste great without it.

 

No Dairy

Flavored chips – the flavoring that is often added to chips – can contain lactose and other milk ingredients including lactose, casein, and whey. Prime Planet chips do not.

 

Our delicious chips are a perfect choice for snackers who have made the decision to eliminate or reduce dairy from their diets. We don’t actually need dairy – it’s not the magical answer to strong bones. In fact, less dairy can actually help people achieve weight loss, clear up their skin, and help digestion.

 

We’re not saying you shouldn’t drink milk, of course.  We’re simply suggesting if you’re trying to stay away from dairy, now you have more reason to eat more of our chips!

 

No nuts

Avoiding nuts means more than just not eating them. It also means not eating any foods that might contain tree nuts or peanuts as ingredients. What’s the best way to be sure a food is nut free? Read the label!

 

Food labels can help consumers with food allergies to avoid foods or ingredients that they or their family members are allergic to. In fact, federal law requires that the labels of most packaged foods marketed in the U.S. disclose – in simple-to-understand terms – when they are made with a “major food allergen.”

 

So here’s something else that’s simple-to-understand: Tostones are nut free! Period.

 

No cholesterol

Since the ‘90s, food manufacturers have been required to provide information on certain nutrients of greatest public concern. As a result, cholesterol is required under the Nutrition Facts panel of food labels, so you can make informed decisions on the snack products you consume.

 

Your body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells, but high levels of cholesterol can cause the development of fatty deposits in your blood vessels making it difficult for enough blood to flow through your arteries. Hello heart disease!

 

Some people can handle more cholesterol than others. Some have trouble with it. Prime Planet plays it safe – with no cholesterol at all. Hello healthier chip!

 

0g Trans Fat

Trans fat is considered the worst type of fat you can eat. Also called trans-fatty acids, it can raise your “bad” cholesterol while also lowering your “good” cholesterol. Sounds like a formula for trouble, especially since a diet laden with trans fat increases your risk of heart disease, the leading killer of adults.

 

The most commonly eaten form of trans fat is in processed foods like crackers, cookies, cakes, and other baked goods – and some snack foods. Count Prime Planet among the growing list of responsible manufacturers that have voluntarily reduced or removed trans-fat from their products.

 

We’ve got the right formula: 0g Trans Fat.

 

Kosher

The K, circled K, and the circled U are all meant to indicate a product is kosher. You’ll see on the front of every package of Prime Planet Tostones that we’ve met the standards to carry the circled U.

 

That’s a big deal because this registered mark can only be used with the permission of its owner, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the undisputed heavyweight of kosher-certifying organizations.

 

A product is “kosher” if a rabbi determines and certifies that it meets the requirements of Jewish dietary law. A snack chip is “great” if it’s made by Prime Planet.

 

Certified Delicious

In the snack world, food safety and hygiene are also more important than ever. Prime Planet Fresh is way ahead of the curve here too, holding multiple U.S. State and Federal certifications that ensure customer satisfaction. For more on this front, please view our previous blog entitled, Prime Planet Tostones are Certified to Make you Feel Good About Snacking.”  

Prime Planet is on course to change the face of healthier-for-you snacking across the world

With its growing line of unique and delicious Tostones, Prime Planet is determined to build the best possible relationships with customers by providing value and quality – while making great inroads to the mainstream American snack market.

 

Promoted as a “better for you” product, Prime Planet  is a natural snack brand made from fresh green plantains sourced from Ecuador, hand-crafted, and packaged there on the spot following strict production protocols. What results is a fresh and flavorful plantain chip that’s packed with all-natural ingredients – and an irresistible crunch.

 

“We took our time to find the best possible quality ingredients because anything else simply wouldn’t do,” says Marie Gonzalez, with Prime Planet Business Development.

 

Prime Planet Tostones come in a range of flavors, from Lime and Sweet Chile to Habanero and the Original salted variety.

 

The History of a Chip

Initially operating under the heading of Prime Fresh Products, Prime Planet launched in 2016 – and almost immediately set a trajectory toward success. After testing the waters with its initial line of Tostones in the Miami/South Florida market, and recognizing that the popularity of this new snack was taking off, by 2018 the time was right to further grow this fledgling division.

 

One of the first steps was to introduce a new slogan, “A Natural World of Flavor.” This creative tag line was conceived to drive home the point that by using simple yet innovative ingredients, snacking can be incorporated in a balanced diet while delivering to consumers the tastiest flavors on the planet.

 

Concurrently, in response to consumer testing and other key market factors, Prime Planet rolled out a new and improved version of the original thicker chip. Now lighter and crispier than ever, the reengineering of the product made them taste even better.

 

Says Gonzalez, “We are the pioneers of converting green plantains into all natural and ready-to-eat chips, and so perfecting the formula for production and widespread distribution was key. Essentially, we took a good chip and made it a whole lot better. In fact, when compared with the original chip, existing customers overwhelmingly loved the newer product.”

 

Prime Planet Tostones were also made easier to spot on grocer shelves. As a result of meeting certain standards that allowed the product to be re-designated a “mainstream snack,” Prime Planet made the critical move from the ethic section of stores to the official snack aisle.

 

 

The Prime Planet Difference 

Prime Planet continued its mission to strike a difference between other traditional banana chips or plantain chips on the market. By 2019, the manufacturer doubled down on the growing demand for their significantly better-tasting, better-textured chip, by aggressively touting the product’s multiple health benefits.

 

Turns out, nearly 50 percent of U.S. consumers say that natural ingredients and non-added sugar are the top reasons for adding snack items to their shopping baskets. So, not only do consumers get to enjoy a top-selling all-natural snack product with no added sugars or preservatives, they are also comforted to know Prime Planet’s unique plantain chips are also certified low sodium, NON GMO, GF, BASC, and RSPO palm oil.

 

What better way to call out these essential qualities than to prominently position the insignia for each across the front of every bag. And a packaging redesign in 2019 did just that, allowing health-conscious consumers to quickly spot the healthier snack benefits they desire.

 

Reaching for Regional Growth

As one of Prime Planet’s earliest retail distributors, Publix Supermarkets now features the highly popular chip brand in more than 900 grocery store locations across Florida and five other states in the Southeastern U.S.

 

“Additionally, we’ve been growing distribution and marketing of our product via Central Market in Texas, Safeway stores in Northern California, Burlington Stores in the Northeast U.S., and multiple other independent grocers,” says Gonzalez, noting that Prime Planet also is now the preferred Tostones snack brand in Puerto Rico and The Bahamas.

 

“During 2020 and 2021, our focus also included expanding our presence in e-commerce market through alliances with Amazon, Kroger Marketplace, Walmart Marketplace, and other online services. Tostones are also available from the Prime Planet online store.

 

Looking Ahead

Going forward, Prime Planet as a brand will continue to pursue opportunities to grow partnerships with many of the biggest names in retail food distribution, in order to make its outstanding product available in multiple new markets nationwide.

 

The company is also busy developing new and natural snack products and flavors – ensuring that Prime Planet stays ahead of the wave in the ever-changing and highly complex U.S. snack food market.

 

Prime Planet Roots

Based Prime Planet is the youngest entity among Miami-based Prime Group. As an innovative international food company, Prim Planet’s corporate mission is simply to bring delicious, nutritious, and healthier products to people’s lives.

 

Prime Planet’s roots stem from the formation of its parent company that was founded in 2001, managing the export of fresh-cut flowers from Ecuador to the U.S. Over two decades, the company has grown to become on of the most trusted suppliers of perishables and other retail and wholesale foods, while at the same time establishing its high standards of customer service and quality products all across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

 

Knowledge, expertise, and direct access to leading global logistics and retail/wholesale food distributors are the prime benefits of being affiliated with its sister companies under the Prime Group umbrella, whereby allowing Prime Planet to find the shortest and most efficient commercial routes for ideal product placement.

 

Other successful Prime Group companies include Prime Fresh Handling, PrimeAir, and Prime Logistics.

 

Contact Us

Prime Planet is located at 1301 NW 84th Ave. Suite 127, Miami, FL 33126 USA. For information, visit www.primeplanet.net; or contact Marie Gonzales with Prime Planet Business Development at 305-592-2044; or via email at bdm@primefreshproducts.com.