Granola is no longer strictly yogurt’s confidant. Consumers want functional snacks, and granola is a practical format to pack in function. At Expo West, companies showed their innovation in making granola not only as an accoutrement in yogurt, but also a way to make it a round-the-clock snack.
Because granolas can often be deceptively high in sugar, the companies below are finding alternative ways to make it a more nutrient-dense product. There’s also a lot of crossover among trends including using honey as a sweetener, meshing global flavors and definitely implementing more protein all within the granola category.
Clusterbucks
Clusterbucks is much more than a crunchy buckwheat-based granola, but a functional snack that could sit in several different grocery categories. The brand is known for its sweet line of flavors like its Regenerative Organic Certified Blueberry Crisp, Birthday Cake, and Bucks ‘n Honey, but it is on the verge of launching several savory flavors. One of those flavors is a partnership with Big Tree Farms, using not just its coconut sugar for a sweetener, but also its coco aminos to follow the savory requests from consumers. The new flavors will roll out on natural retailer shelves later in 2025, when the brand will hit total 10 varieties. Clusterbucks’ umbrella company also sells everything seasoning with crunchy buckwheat clusters, so it is working to increase the retail presence of this product too. “Crunch” as a texture was on Whole Foods Market’s 2025 trends forecast, and Clusterbucks could not fit into that trend more perfectly. “We’re seeing such a strong demand for granola not only in the morning, but for all eating occasions like snacking,” COO Kailey Donewald tells me. “Granola is going beyond the bowl.”
Granology
Granology sells an illustrious line of granolas that are packaged in a way that makes them look like vitamins, as if it’s what they’re actually providing. Cofounder Heejin Jung tells me that Granology is the largest granola manufacturer in South Korea, and that he attended Expo West to meet more retailers in the US. With more classic granolas, granola clusters and oat puffs, Granology doesn’t box itself into typical granola textures. They come in a wide variety of very pleasing snackable, yogurt-able and charcuterie-able blends, some of which are very kid-friendly. Black Sesame, Berry, Coconut and Chocolate are the primary flavors along with a line of protein granolas, granola bars, candied nuts, and to-go packs, all sweetened with unrefined sugar, maple syrup and monk fruit.
Kodiak
Kodiak knows what Expo West attendees want, and there is no better booth at the show for a daily pancake and french toast stick breakfast or even entertainment from a three-piece folk band. The 30-year-old pioneers in protein-packed pancakes, Kodiak is working to become an all-around pantry staple in breakfast. It has just started selling two of its biggest product roll outs ever: three protein granola varieties including Honey Oat, Cookie Butter, and Chocolate in addition to trail bars. “We’re bringing incremental households to the new category,” Kodiak CEO Val Oswalt tells me. “Granola was the second-most requested category to enter.” Made with coconut oil, the granola contains 17 grams of protein per serving. They’re already on shelves at Target, Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons. “Munching, yogurt, cereal–the versatility of granola is incredibly attractive. We tried to make it in a way that meets all three need-states,” Oswalt says. “It’s not just about being protein-packed. It has to taste amazing.” Kodiak is also about to launch a line of breakfast sandwiches, like a sausage, egg and cheese in between two protein pancakes, hitting the market this Spring.
Nana Joes
The nut-forward granola brand Nana Joes is created by pastry chef Michelle Pusateri, who gives extreme attention to each ingredient she sources. Founded in the Bay Area in 2010, Nana Joes uses almond butter that’s freshly-ground every week. The almond slices are sourced from California’s Bower Ranch and the pecans come from Houston’s Rio Grande Organics. The company also carries a line of paleo granolas which include no oil. Some blends contain a base of oats which makes them ideal for a savory overnight oats. Others are a muesli-style. They come in bars too, including ‘Big Wave’ (quinoa, cranberry and almond butter) and ‘Ocean Beach’ (almond butter, coffee and cocoa). “The flavor combinations and the care is what makes it so special,” Pusateri tells me. “We have a very high standard for what goes into the bags.” Nana Joes is completely self-manufactured which provides the freedom to order fresh ingredients as each new batch is made. It’s shelved in Whole Foods stores across California.
Purely Elizabeth
Leading natural granola brand, Purely Elizabeth, is continuing its growth in the category both in terms of product launches and sustainability efforts. Last year, the company launched a line of cookie granola, and at Expo West 2025 it debuted its newest expansion of the line: Peanut Butter cookie granola. “For our cookie granola, we’re taking inspiration from my favorite cookie recipe married with granola,” founder and CEO Elizabeth Stein tells me. “It creates this delicious crispy, cookie-like bite, and is baked differently using other ingredients like almond flour and baking soda.” With a total of 18 granola products, in addition to its cereals and instant oatmeals, Boulder-based Purely Elizabeth has committed to using one-third regenerative organic ingredients in all of its products by the end of 2026. “I believe that regenerative plays a lot of answers in many ways,” Stein says. “One being creating more nutrient-rich soil, therefore creating more nutrient-rich ingredients.” Purely Elizabeth has never used seed oils and uses coconut sugar and coconut oil in all of its products, on top of using all gluten-free oats. “At the time [of launch], the category was only probably $300 million. Today it’s almost one billion,” Stein says. “…we have driven a lot of that growth.”
Seven Sundays
Seven Sundays is on a mission to change how the cereal aisle looks, and its working hand-in-hand with sustainable initiatives to make that happen. At Expo West, the brand debuted two new oat protein granolas. The reason that these granolas have a higher protein content than others is because of the oat upcycling process which Seven Sundays is revamping the supply chain of. Cofounder Hannah Barnstable explains to me that oats used to make oat milk results in an oat concentrate, used in this new granola, that’s three times the amount of protein and twice the fiber of oat flour. The B-Corp Certified business is working towards 100% regeneratively grown ingredients and sources a lot of its ingredients directly from farmers. It’s also innovating cereal packaging by eliminating the cardboard box, using only zippable bags. All of its products, including its unbaked cereals, are sweetened only with dates, Minnesota maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar. Seven Sundays launched 12 years ago as a muesli company and has had a strong consumer base in families. “I have a household of five, and I barely go down the cereal aisle anymore. But I get excited about it,” Barnstable says. “It’s an amazing way, if done right, to bring economical nutrition in a fast way into our bodies.” Seven Sundays is set to launch nationwide in both Target and Kroger this year.
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