Change location
Current location
In 2007, Tucker’s Natural founders Sam Tucker and his wife Cindy stumbled across an absence on the grocery store shelves in Australia – a natural, artisan-style premium cracker. The couple, both former athletes with a strong interest in health and wellbeing, purchased a small gingerbread biscuit business in 1997 but had always had plans to expand.
Production of the crackers
When the opportunity of developing a healthier snack presented itself, Sam and Cindy got to work. Through their experience and existing connections within the industry, Sam and Cindy were able to create a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)-free cracker with no artificial preservatives, flavors, or colourings, that was free from yeast, soy and monosodium glutamate (MSG).
And thus, Tucker’s Natural was born.
“Tucker’s Natural was built on the foundation of creating a natural, artisan-style premium cracker,” said Sam Tucker.
“We approach our products from an artisan angle. So rather than a mass-produced cracker, we wanted to produce something with a higher quality that was noticeably better to eat in terms of taste, texture and visual appearance and that was ideal for when you had guests over.”
14 years since the business’ inception, Tucker’s Natural now produces a range of savory and sweet crackers, crispbreads and biscuits – all made with the original philosophy of clean, natural and nutritionally better snacks. When developing new products and directions, Sam Tucker relies on what he considers to be the four key global trends: functionality, nutrition, sustainability, and indulgence.
Sam Tucker, founder of Tucker's Natural
“Here in Australia, our brand is seen as a market leader so that puts us under pressure to always be forward-thinking,” Sam said. “So, you’ll find that many of our product creations fall under those four key themes, with functionality being top priority. Functionality is the new natural, in my opinion. It covers health, beauty, mental health, sleep, relaxation, etc. All these themes that you also hear about in functional foods and nutrition.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world (including the food industry) as we know it, Sam also noted a new emphasis on turning more towards local suppliers. Although an original staple of the Tucker’s philosophy anyways, the business began exploring sourcing locally even more.
Although the Tucker’s Natural brand is still deeply rooted in its original philosophy, they are simultaneously creating new products and pivoting to the needs of their customers.
“We’re always at the mercy of the market,” Sam said. “We’re under constant pressure to hold shelf space in the major supermarkets because it’s difficult to have enough volume to sustain the business otherwise.”
New and old designs of the rosemary crackers
Sam noted a recent example in which a rosemary cracker that had run for 13 years had finally reached maturity in the product life cycle, so they reinvented the product to be a bit healthier. The product’s popularity was freshly reinvigorated.
Partly due to this feverish desire to continue developing, Tucker’s Natural started his partnership with FRITSCH in 2017 and purchased a DOUGHLINER and VARIOFLEX M to create one seamless production line. They now use this PROGRESSA basic line to produce their flagship product Tucker’s Natural Gourmet Crackers and have plans to use it to create and develop new products.
“We’re just scratching the surface on what we can do with the line,” Sam said, noting that their product quality and consistency has highly improved since they started using the FRITSCH line.
As for the future, Tucker’s Natural has some hefty goals including more than doubling the business in the next five years.
"New product development is an important part of our business so there’s a constant wave of ideas and products we have going. Probably a bit too much but that’s my fault because I enjoy that part of the business."
Sam Tucker about product innovations at Tucker's Natural
Fibre Packed Snack Crackers
FiveSeed Cheeseboard
Fruit & Seeded Crackers
Gourmet Bites
Caramelised Onion Artisan Crackers
Gourmet Crackers variety
