The Kansas-based multinational is collaborating with Evergreen Licensing to sway into the popcorn category under the Twinkies and Ding Dongs brand names.
The move capitalises on the increased demand for hybrid snacks as consumers seek familiar flavours in unexpected and innovative ways. The new popcorn treats capture the essence of the beloved Hostess snack cakes in ‘light, crispy and sweet’ popcorn form.
They’re not available as yet but are expected to roll out in two sizes in grocery, mass, dollar and convenience stores across the US within the year.
“We are very proud to work with the Hostess Brands team to create this tasty popcorn treat,” said Sue McCabe, president and chief marketing officer of Evergreen Licensing.
“Our goal is always to look for innovative ways to extend our licensing platform and bring new products to our retail partners and consumers. We would like to thank the Global Icons team for their support and efforts in facilitating this opportunity with Hostess Brands.”
In addition to Hostess Brands, Evergreen has a popcorn partnership with dippin’ dots, and has also teamed with Chattanooga Bakery to create Moon Pie snack puffs.
The cereal multinational has punched up the Vitamin D content in Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cheerios, with other household favourites - Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs, Trix and Cookie Crips - to follow throughout the summer.
Vitamin D is essential for building strong bones but is often under-consumed by 96% of all Americans.
As the category leader, Big G is the first to broadly roll out this nutrition upgrade, pushing the Daily Value of Vitamin D up to 20%, twice the previous amount. The move follows approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year.
“General Mills Big G Cereals have long been a leader in delivering good nutrition,” said Ricardo Fernandez, president of US Morning Foods, General Mills.
“We were proud to be the first major company to make whole grain the first ingredient in our Big G Cereals recipes nearly 20 years ago, a commitment that stands to this day. And with the newly increased Vitamin D fortification of these cereals, we’re proud to remind parents of the goodness they grew up on with Big G and how we continue to deliver nutritious options for their families today.”
Breakfast literally can change lives. Research shows that nutrients missed at breakfast are usually not made up during the rest of the day, and cereal for breakfast is hard to beat when it comes to nutrient density, offering a source of wholegrain, fibre and several key vitamins and minerals including folate, iron, zinc, vitamin A and many B vitamins.
“Cereal is one of few foods that’s consumed across the lifespan and a household staple that can support good nutrition to a large portion of the population,” said Amy Cohn, registered dietitian and senior nutrition manager at General Mills.
“Doubling the Vitamin D content of our Big G Cereals is just another step in our continued commitment to providing affordable, accessible nutrition because we know that breakfast doesn’t have to be complicated or break the bank - and it can be as easy as a beloved bowl of cereal.”
The Wisconsin producer of hand crafted, small batch meat snacks is hoping to break all records on 19 August and attempt to nab the coveted record for the longest meat snack stick.
Wenzel’s Farm has partnered with collagen casing manufacturer Devro to create a casing that is long enough and strong enough to withstand such an attempt.
Wenzel’s Farm will be making the gigantic stick during its 75th Anniversary celebrations, taking place in Marshfield at Wenzel’s Park and filled with food stalls, bounce houses, dunk tank, mini-golf and a karaoke competition. The evening will wrap up with a free concert by chart-topping sibling duo, Jocelyn, and Chris.
“As a company, we couldn’t be more excited and honoured to celebrate this incredible milestone and hopefully a new World Record,” said Wenzel’s president Mark Vieth.
The second largest biscuit manufacturer in the world - claiming its snacks are enjoyed in in billions of homes across more than 150 countries - has updated the recipe of its Jacob’s Crinklys crisps to contain 30% less fat.
Pladis said the reformulated crisps replace the originals and now comply with the UK’s HFSS regulations. Jacob’s Crinklys non-HFSS are available in Cheese & Onion and Salt & Vinegar variants.
“It was about time we took the range’s popularity one step further by bringing Jacob’s Crinklys to supermarket shelves with a new, healthier recipe,” said Asli Akman, marketing director, Pladis UK&I.
“We’ve also made them especially easy for shoppers to spot with unmissable ‘30% Less Fat’ flashes across our redesigned non-HFSS multipacks, along with ‘Oven-Baked’ flashes on the entire range.”
The crisps are available to purchase now in retailers across the UK.
Free from snack startup Crave is making big changes to products to avoid a lengthy infringement battle with multinational corporates.
Crave specialise in snacks such as crisps, chocolate bars, and spreads that are fun and flavoursome, but also free from gluten, milk, and egg and vegan.
In 2020, founder Rob Brice spotted a gap in the market for snacks that everyone can enjoy and has grown the London-based business to one of the leading free from brands in the UK. In November 2022, Brice won Channel 4’s Aldi’s Next Big Thing, which saw Crave’s snacks boosting its following and winning listings in national supermarkets, including Asda and Morrisons.
However, due to legal pressures, the brand is now changing some of its product’s names:
- Pickled onion flavour maize snacks renamed as Pickled Onion Noughties;
- Hot and spicy maize puffs rebranded as Hot & Spicy Hot Dawgs;
- Chocolate hazelnut spread change to Sir Spread-a-lot.
“We are looking to offer customers the products they crave: normal, everyday products. We operate in a very niche market of free from and vegan and so clearly very different products from mainstream brands. We don’t see there being any confusion between the two,” said Brice.
“Constraints of time and money make it very difficult for us to take on these giants, we are not a big threat to their success, we are just here to make ‘normal food’ available to everyone. If you are coeliac, why should you be limited to the bland, boring, ‘cardboard’ snacks of the free-from aisle?”
Keen to avoid an exorbitant legal battle and make the modifications requested, a pricey exercise in itself, Brice sees the silver lining.
“We see this as an opportunity for us to have fun and get creative with some new ideas and will of course make the changes that we need to.”
“The packaging changes will take place in August 2023, and we are looking forward to introducing more Crave products onto shelves soon… we’re fairly sure that we have the backing of Cuthbert, Wiggles and Clyde.”
Pop-Tarts has been known for Crazy Good toaster pastries for almost 60 years, and now, with a new creative direction, has launched new 'agents of Crazy Good'.
The characters are representations of the toaster pastries brought to life and include Frosted Strawberry, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Hot Fudge Sundae and a squad of Bites.
The ingenious crew come fully frosted and will appear in upcoming commercials, social content and brand events - debuting at the Adult Swim Fest that is starting on 20 July in San Diego - all aimed at enhancing snacking experiences for passionate audiences.
The campaign for the Kellogg’s brand taps into the nostalgia from the Crazy Good ads that ran in the 2000s but reimagined to fit today’s modern media landscape. In the original spots, the characters ran away from those who craved them, whereas the new spots flip that narrative, with the characters putting themselves in situations to entice humans to crave them for their next snack. This move comes as Pop-Tarts has seen a 17% increase since 2019 in annual eating per capita among adults during the snacking occasion.
“This new creative direction reinforces Pop-Tarts as an anytime food while simultaneously delighting fans with characters that remind them of their childhood love of Pop-Tarts,” said Heidi Ray, senior director of Marketing, Pop-Tarts.
The London-based baker has presented the first in its line of celebration cakes.
The recipe for La Tarte de Saint-Tropez - purportedly beloved by Brigitte Bardot - was developed by Birley’s maître pâtissier and executive chef Vincent Zanardi remains faithful to the original conceived by Polish confectioner and patisserie-owner Alexandre Micka in the mid-1950s.
The Tarte Tropézienne comprises a light brioche soaked with orange blossom and is filled with Crème Madame -vanilla pastry cream (crème patissière) mixed with light whipped cream (Chantilly) - and topped with pearled sugar.
The creation stays true to the bakery’s ethos, which takes inspiration from the traditional boulangerie-pâtisseries that have now all but disappeared from French life. Birley, however, isn’t just an exercise in nostalgia. Some of the recipes have taken as long as five years to be brought to perfection and are a contemporary twist on the classics. Ingredients are sourced from around the globe, such as wheat flour from Burgundy, sea salt from Brittany, almonds from Valencia and a special reserve of bitter chocolate, created specifically for Birley from cacao beans from the Philippines.
Available online and in the bakery as a single slice, a small or large cake - and with the option of raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries - this five-tier creation marks the start of Birley Bakery's celebration cake offering, available to order for events of all kinds.
The Post-owned cereal brand has teamed up with actor and former American football player Terry Crews to give tweens the motivational boost they need to start the day.
The effort follows prior efforts between the brand and Crews and makes Honeycomb one of the latest to use augmented reality (AR) - the integration of digital information with the user’s environment in real time - in pursuit of younger audiences.
Fans can jump from the new Honeycomb box - hitting US shelves this month - into the new AR experience via QR code. The AR experience includes two fun activities and motivational videos from ‘pep-talk king’ Crews, designed to encourage consumers to Bee Big, Bee Kind and Bee Amazing.
HoneyRun: Get ready for an immersive gaming experience where you guide a hungry bear through a challenging obstacle course. Collect Honeycomb cereal pieces to earn bonus points and fuel up with drops of honey to keep your plane flying.
Big Bee Motivations: A fully immersive motivational morning boost.
Crews recently co-founded his own ‘unconventionally creative’ agency Super Serious, ostensibly to give brands the edge by blurring the lines between advertising and entertainment, The agency’s first client is plant-based alternative brand Impossible Foods, rolling out two national campaigns; the first of which premiered during the 76th Annual Tony Awards broadcast.
To inspire the next generation of female athletes, Cracker Jack has recognised nine young stars who are changing the face of the game one goal at a time.
The grand prize winner - Lindsey Zurbrugg - was also selected to be the first athlete to join the Cracker Jill roster and appear on special-edition Cracker Jill packaging.
“The I Am Cracker Jill Award submissions told incredible stories of hundreds of young female athletes across the nation who are working to break down barriers and leave their mark on sports - they are all truly remarkable,” said Leslie Vesper, VP of marketing, Frito-Lay North America.
“We selected Lindsey to become the first real athlete in the brand's history to join the Cracker Jack roster so that girls nationwide will be inspired to keep playing and keep achieving when they see Lindsey's story on our bags in stores and in stadiums.”
Despite becoming disabled at age 13, Zurbrugg has gone on to represent her country on the world’s largest athletic stage and is a current member of the USA Women's Wheelchair Basketball National Team.
“It is truly an honour to have been selected for the I Am Cracker Jill Award and the funding [$5,000} will go a long way in helping me continue to compete and hopefully inspire another young girl out there to never give up on her sports dreams,” said Zurbrugg.
“After discovering my own passion for wheelchair basketball, my goal has been to bring attention to this sport. Being the first athlete featured on the packaging of such an iconic snack brand will be a tremendous help in accomplishing that.”
The Awards is a partnership between Cracker Jack, the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) and programme ambassadors: international soccer star Mallory Swanson; professional swimmer and 29-time Paralympic medallist Jessica Long; and WSF Athlete Ambassador and two-time Paralympic medallist Sophia Herzog-Gibb.
“It was so important for me as a young girl to see others who looked like me competing in sports because it helped me believe that I can follow my dreams, which is why I’m so proud to have worked with Cracker Jack on this programme,” said Long.
“The more amazing women Cracker Jill can help elevate, the more likely it is that a young girl will be able to see and imagine themselves accomplishing their own dreams.”
The I Am Cracker Jill Award finalists
- Football: Bella Rasmussen, Laguna Beach, California
- Modern pentathlon: Corinne Thompson, Gainesville, Georgia
- Biathlon: Emma Stertz, Grand Rapids, Minnesota
- Paralympic track & field: Jaleen Roberts, Chula Vista, California
- Wheelchair basketball: Lindsey Zurbrugg, Hillsboro, Oregon
- Golf and softball: Olivia Ohlson-Ellis, Evanston, Illinois
- Surfing: Sally Cohen, Haleiwa, Hawaii
- Weightlifting: Sohana Raisa, Sandford, Florida
- Martial arts: Tahirah Abdul-Qadir, Syracuse, New York
Cracker Jack’s commitment to investing in women’s sports includes a $400,000 donation to date to the national non-profit WSF to expand access and opportunities for girls and women in sport so they can play, compete, and lead without barriers.
This partnership is just one example of Frito-Lay’s commitment to driving equity in sports. Last year, the snacking giant launched the All-in with Frito Lay programme, a three-year commitment to increase equity in sports by working with partners and organisations to enhance resources and training for young athletes.
The Highland bakery’s Half-Dozen loyalty scheme was launched on 19 June, with a staggering 20,000 loyalty cards already snapped up - each with the potential to nab a free cake.
“The response to our Baker’s Half-Dozen loyalty cards has been beyond anything we could have imagined,” said Fraser Gow, director of Harry Gow.
“We understand that living costs are rising, and truly appreciate that customers have stuck by us through such uncertain times - so it’s great to be able to give back to our communities like this.
“Whether they choose to pick up a dream ring, fern cake, pineapple tart, marzipan apple, or any of our cakes - we hope that a little freebie once in a while raises a smile and brightens up our customers’ day.”
The Baker’s Half-Dozen scheme is available in all of Harry Gow shops across Inverness, the Highlands and Moray, with customers earning a free cake of their choice after collecting six stamps. The baker - the only one to have twice scooped the Scottish Baker of the Year awards - is opening its 18th store in Aviemore this summer.
Harry Gow’s products are also found in 34 Co-op stores across the north of Scotland, in two branches of Morrisons and one Asda location.