Snack Pals
Hannaford Supermarkets’ Snack Pals concept isn’t just a product name — it’s a whole character-driven brand that encourages kids to learn about nutritious foods. Each fruit or veggie gets its own friendly persona (like Alicia Apple or Carlos Carrot) with fun “superpowers” tied to the health benefits of that food. Unique was asked to come up with interactive experiences that bring parents, children, and the brand closer together.
Finding Friends
In this activity, kids explore a virtual place called Snack Pals Land to seek out and discover hidden Snack Pal characters — friendly fruit and veggie mascots like Alicia Apple, Carlos Carrot, and others that help make learning about healthy snacks fun.
🕵️ How It Works
Navigate through various scenes or pages in “Snack Pals Land.”
Look closely for Snack Pal friends — some characters are tucked away or partially hidden.
When the target audience finds a character, they click or tap to reveal them and collect them.
As they uncover more pals, fun messages and encouragement appear, and at the end they’re rewarded with a completion message or chance to continue to other parts of the site.
Make it stand out
Children are quick to point out what they want at grocery stores. The interactive concept set out to build a direct relationship between the Snack Pals characters and the target audience. First, Unique drafted copy for the experience. Then, he worked with the design team to create a joyful user journey that mirrors a journey through the physical store.
Find Your Snack Pal Friends in Snack Pals Land:
Builds visual attention and focus
The search-and-find format asks kids to slow down and really look. That strengthens attention to detail, scanning skills, and sustained focus. These are foundational skills for reading, problem-solving, and classroom learning.
Encourages curiosity without pressure
There’s no timer, no score stress, and no “wrong” way to play. Kids explore at their own pace, which supports intrinsic motivation rather than performance anxiety.
Creates positive associations with healthy foods
By turning fruits and vegetables into friendly characters, the game reduces resistance to unfamiliar foods. Kids are more open to foods they recognize and feel emotionally connected to.
Supports early digital literacy
Kids practice basic digital skills like clicking, tapping, navigating screens, and following visual cues — all in a safe, age-appropriate environment.
Strengthens memory and recognition
Finding and remembering where characters are hidden helps with visual memory and pattern recognition. Over time, kids begin to anticipate where characters might appear.
Acts as a gateway to healthy habits
The game doesn’t lecture about nutrition. Instead, it gently normalizes fruits and vegetables as familiar, friendly, and fun — which is often more effective than direct instruction.
Produce-ing Personas
Unique’s favorite part of creating this game was working with the brand team to establish solid character personas for the Snack Pals characters. I also found a way to boost SEO by driving traffic from the games to the recipes pages.
Emotional Design
The client was very pleased with the game and sought out more ways to create meaningful engagement.
Unique’s team pitched the idea of a chat bot to deepen character resonance between families and the Snack Pals. Food is personal and emotional so they began with a prompt; get kids to share how they’re feeling.
Then, the Snack Pal recommended experiences based on their mood. Unique’s team uncovered that users would disclose specific emotions to specific characters. Brandie Banana received 3X more Happy Responses than Stanley Strawberry. This trend mirrored produce sales at stores.
