California-based citrus brands Wonderful Halos and Cuties made the top 40 in a 2016 survey of American moms, but weren't able to crack the top 50 with kids aged 6-12.

Smarty Pants LLC surveyed 8,125 households in its latest 'Brand Love' study, examining 285 brands across more than 20 categories including food, apparel, gaming and technology. 

From the results the group put together 'Momfinity' and 'Kidfinity' scores, which 'chief Smarty Pants' Wynne Tyree told Fresh Fruit Portal were scores from a scale of 0 to 1,000 based on awareness, love and popularity of the brands.

She also noted Wonderful Citrus' Wonderful Halos and Sun Pacific's Cuties were the only fresh produce brands included in the survey, but the 2017 study currently underway has included Chiquita. 

Wonderful Halos came in at number 15 with a Momfinity score of 844, just behind Doritos but ahead of Lays and Snickers. Tyree agreed with the company's claim of being the top healthy snack brand in the list.

"Below that one would be Mott’s, which is an apple brand – they make apple juice and sauce, and they’re clearly a healthier snack brand. They are just not a brand that sells the whole apple itself," she said.

"Goldfish I would probably argue would be the third because they’re marketing is around 'our product is better for you'."

She said Cuties would be the fourth ranked healthy snack brand for mothers with a Momfinity score of 814, and an overall ranking of 38.

In a release, Wonderful Halos vice president of marketing Adam Cooper said it was no surprise to hear Halos were moms' favorite healthy snack brand choice for their families.

"With over 8 billion servings sold over the past four years, our message of ‘pure goodness’ and delicious taste continues to resonate with parents and kids," Cooper said.

"Parents love Halos because they’re an ideal, healthy snack and kids love our palm-sized mandarins because they’re easy to peel, seedless and bursting with sweet flavor."

How branding fared with kids, and previous results

Tyree said Halos were ranked 56 with children, scoring 784 on the Kidfinity scale, while Cuties was ranked at number 74 with a score of 757.

For children, on the healthy snack scale she said these brands were behind Goldfish and Go-Gurt. 

"If you do want to make that case that overall moms just have so much more affinity, awareness, love and desireability around Halos, that is a true statement by almost 100 points," she said.

"In general almost all healthier or healthy SKUs or promoted brands almost always do better with moms than with kids. 

"With kids kids you’re going to have more 'I love junk' and with moms, they like junk but their preference would be that their kids eat Cuties and Halos all day."

And how do the most recent results compare to 2015?

"2016 was the first year we included Halos so I don’t have the tracking data over the previous year on Halos, but on Cuties I do have it," Tyree said.

"The score slightly went down on Cuties [for moms] and the ranking accordingly fell lower with Moms.

"That could be because Cuties obviously has more equity and has been around for longer; Halos came in and is making its impression and is probably stealing some of that affinity that historically had gone to Cuties."

With kids, she said the Cuties score has risen by just four points but that rise is statistically insignificant, meaning the brand's popularity with kids has stayed fairly flat.

Halos marketing campaign

In the release, Wonderful Citrus highlighted this season's US$30 million breakthrough "Good Choice, Kid" advertising campaign celebrating kids who made good and healthy choices with the the Halos fruit.

The group said the campaign allowed the brand to expand its leadership in the market to the point that half of all mandarin volume was now Halos.

"Remaining committed to offering consumers the highest-quality, nutritious, and great tasting citrus available, the company will grow its supply next year," the company said.

"In addition, the brand will continue to explore new opportunities that increase brand awareness and help spread the Wonderful Halos mission to help kids and families eat healthier and make good choices.

"Wonderful Halos are in season from November through May and available in 2-, 3- and 5-pound bags and 5-pound boxes in produce aisles of grocery, mass and club stores nationwide."

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