Soul Fruit is bringing a new kind of fruit snack to Waitrose: single-ingredient tropical fruit crisps designed to deliver the proper crunch and excitement of a conventional sharing snack.
The husband-and-wife-founded brand has launched new sharing bags of its Crunchy Freeze-Dried Mango Crisps and Crunchy Freeze-Dried Dragon Fruit Crisps into 260 Waitrose stores nationwide as part of the retailer’s BrandsNew programme.
Made from just one ingredient – 100% whole fruit slices – with no added sugar, concentrates, preservatives or flavourings, the high-fibre snacks deliver the excitement and satisfying crunch of conventional snacks, using nothing but whole fruit.
The larger format has been developed to take freeze-dried fruit beyond lunchboxes and individual on-the-go packs, opening it up to broader occasions including desk snacking, travel, evenings at home and sharing.
A different kind of fruit snack
For Soul Fruit, what goes into the bag matters – but so does the experience of eating it.
“When we were developing our freeze-dried fruit crisps, we wanted them to deliver the same satisfying crunch you expect from traditional crisps,” said co-founder Daniel Twiss. “A lot of the freeze-dried fruit we tried felt foamy or powdery and disappeared in your mouth, which just wasn’t satisfying enough. We wanted that unmistakable crisp like crunch from the first bite, followed by a burst of real fruit flavour.”
The journey begins with high-quality fruit, picked at peak ripeness for its vibrant colour and intense flavour. From there, it is carefully freeze dried, transforming whole fruit slices into crisp, colourful pieces with Soul Fruit’s signature satisfying crunch.
“We believe the simplest snacks can be the most exciting,” said co-founder Natalie Wood. “Our new sharing bags show what one brilliant ingredient can do: bold colour, intense fruit flavour, natural benefits and a crunch that keeps you coming back.”
Giving fruit a bigger role in snacking
The launch comes as healthy snacking continues to evolve, with shoppers looking beyond what products leave out – such as added sugar or artificial ingredients – and paying closer attention to what they actually contain.
However, Soul Fruit believes growing demand for simpler, more recognisable ingredients does not mean consumers are willing to compromise on flavour, texture or enjoyment.
“People want simpler, whole-food snacks, but they still expect brilliant flavour and a genuinely exciting eating experience,” added Natalie.
“Our mission is to make fruit exciting again. These new sharing bags show that fruit can compete for the same snacking moments as crisps and confectionery – without pretending to be anything other than fruit.”
Olivia Shykles, fruit buyer at Waitrose says: “We are thrilled to bring Soul Fruit to Waitrose and introduce food lovers to such an innovative, single-ingredient range – after all, who wouldn’t want to try a dragon fruit crisp?
Freeze-dried fruit offers an exciting, trend-driven opportunity within the fruit snacking range. Made from 100% fruit and high in fibre, Soul Fruit provides a genuinely distinctive addition to our shelves, and we know our shoppers will appreciate the vibrant flavour and exceptional quality packed into every crunch.”
From Vietnam’s fruit farms to Waitrose shelves
Soul Fruit was founded in 2021 by snack-obsessed husband-and-wife team Natalie Wood and Daniel Twiss after living in Asia and discovering a world of tropical fruit.
As lifelong sweet-toothed snackers, they began questioning why so many sweets were fruit-flavoured – yet contained very little, if any, real fruit. Why imitate something that was already naturally sweet, colourful and full of flavour?
Dried fruit seemed like the perfect alternative: naturally sweet, high in fibre, gluten-free and made from a recognisable whole-food ingredient. Yet many of the products they found still contained added sugar, fruit concentrates, preservatives and flavourings.They saw an opportunity to do things differently: celebrating whole fruit at its best, with nothing else added, while giving it the craveable textures and excitement of conventional snacks.
Today, Soul Fruit works closely with suppliers and farms across Vietnam to select fruit for its flavour, pick it at peak ripeness and dry it into the brand’s signature Crunchy and Chewy textures.
The Waitrose listing marks Soul Fruit’s first major nationwide supermarket launch, building on its presence in Ocado, Joe & The Juice, Selfridges, Harrods and Holland & Barrett.
Soul Fruit Crunchy Freeze-Dried Mango Crisps and Crunchy Freeze-Dried Dragon Fruit Crisps are available in 229 Waitrose stores and at Waitrose.com from 20 July 2026.
