Star spangled products
Hostess Brands has paired America’s favorite flavor combination in a Twinkie. Building on the success of the recently-introduced Chocolate Twinkie, the Kansas City-based snack maker is now filling chocolate cake with a peanut butter crème.
The snack cake – available at grocery stores and mass markets (with expansion to C-Stores in September) – is sold in single-serve and multi-pack formats.
Hostess relaunched its Red, White & Blue Twinkies and Star Spangled CupCakes, decorated with patriotic sprinkles, frosting and coloring, in tandem with Red Cross partnership earlier this month.
To celebrate its 40th anniversary
Charlotte-based Truly Good Foods has unveiled three lines of snacks created for the on-the-go consumer who wants indulgent yet healthy snacks.
Key Lime Cookies, Berry Good and Poppin’ Nut Crunch are part of the Snack Treasures collection of hand-blended snack mixes. Southern Sweets is a line of sweet-coated nuts made with no artificial ingredients, including Butter Toffee Peanuts, Praline Nut Mix and Praline Pecans. Available in 12 4oz bags for between $1.99 and $3.99.
The trEAT4u one-ounce bags meet demand for smaller portion sizes and include nut and fruit mixes like Fiber Crunch Delight, Fruit Bowl, Perfectly Fit and Sunshine Blend. Available in 24-count or 120-count 1oz snack bags at a retail price of 79c-99c.
Feel good about snacking
Oatmega, part of Austin-based Amplify Snack Brands’ portfolio of better-for-you snacks, has launched a line of grass-fed whey protein cookies.
The complete protein comes from New Zealand cows that are pasture-raised and antibiotic-free.
Available in chocolate chip, peanut butter and white chocolate macadamia variants, each cookie contains 12-13 grams of protein and a daily dose (250mg) of DHA and EPA Omega-3s.
They are also non-GMO and gluten-free certified. All Oatmega products can be found online and at retailers nationwide.
Bubbe says “eat your mutzos”
The Matzo Project is entirely American, complete with a Jewish grandmother mascot. Launched by summer camp friends Ashley Albert and Kevin Rodriguez, the Brooklyn-based company is attempting to move matzo to the snack aisle by offering cracker-sized pieces in various flavors.
It produces matzos and matzo chips – in salted, ‘everything’ seasonings and cinnamon-sugar - in boxes bearing motherly admonitions, like “Eat something!”
The products are kosher, but not kosher for Passover. Available online and in stores in 20 US states; three boxes of matzos retail for $25; and 12 large or 24 small bags of chips sell for $42.
‘Meat’ the day
Jack Link’s has added the AM Hot and Spicy Breakfast Sausage to its Protein product range “for people to feed their wild side.”
The Wisconsin-based snack company is best known as the producer of Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. The company was founded by John ‘Jack’ Link in 1986, but essentially began in the 1880s when Jack’s great-grandfather came to America from the old country, bringing with him the family’s sausage recipes.
In 2014, Jack Link’s acquired Unilever’s meat snack division, which included the Bifi and Peperami brands, to expand its consumer base throughout Europe. Jack Link’s Breakfast Sausages are sold throughout the US at a retail price of $4.99-$5.99 for a 4oz pack.
Protein snack attack
Wenzel’s Farm has added a new flavor to its snack stick line.
Taco Snack Stick is the tenth flavor in the portfolio, joining variants like Beef, Teriyaki and Honey Ham.
Another Wisconsin-based company, Wenzel’s Farm produces hand-crafted, small-batch meat snacks, using quality cuts of beef that are seasoned and naturally smoked. No artificial colors or flavors are used.
The Taco sticks are available in 8oz packages in convenience stores and supermarkets throughout the Midwest, as well as online.
Reach for clean ingredients
Pure Growth Organic has added new SKUs to its lineup of organic snacks that includes gluten-free, vegan and nut-free options, which are free of GMOs, artificial flavors and preservatives.
The New York-based producer’s Breakfast Biscuits and Breakfast Biscuit Bites are available in four flavors – chocolate, blueberry, apple cinnamon and strawberry – and are USDA Organic Certified, retailing for $2.99.
Additionally, the company has launched baked Oatmeal Bites in two flavors – cinnamon brown sugar and the iconic chocolate chip - topped with a white chocolate drizzle, and Crispy Rice Squares that are gluten-free and vegan.
Oatmeal Bites and Crispy Rice Squares retail for $2.98. Available through Target, Walmart and Amazon.
Artisan bread with a purpose
River Road Bakehouse is rolling out a lineup of artisan breads across the US with the mission to reduce the nation’s $165bn food waste problem.
The Toronto-based bakery has launched the #RoadtoZeroFoodWaste campaign and has partnered with the University of Guelph, a Canada-based agricultural institution, with a $15,000 donation to the Guelph Food Waste Project to uncover new ways to reduce food waste.
Operating out of zero-waste bakeries, River Road Bakehouse breads are made using simple ingredients, and include Baguettes, Ciabatta Buns, Brioche and Sesame Burger Buns, Ciabatta Loaves, Roasted Garlic Ovals and Dinner Roll Clusters.
Products are available in the US at Meijer, Publix, TOPS, Food City and Roche Bros. for $2.99-$3.49.
From the friendly neighbor
Tim Hortons restaurants are celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary in the US with a range of Canadian-inspired products for a limited time.
The Poutine Donut is a Honey Dip Donut topped with potato wedges, gravy and cheese curds, while Maple Bacon Iced Capp is topped with whipped cream, maple flakes and bacon bits.
These will be available at selected restaurants across the US on July 1, retailing for $1.49 and $3.49 respectively.
Maple Timbits, a maple flavored bite-size donut, will also be available for the month of July while supplies last, at a retail price of 25c for one or $1.99 for a 10-pack.
It’s a hot dog, it’s a sausage roll… no, it’s Puff Dog
US grocery chain Trader Joe’s has claimed to have taken the beloved American hot dog “to the next level.”
Hot dogs are, of course, typically served in a bread roll, while Puff Dogs’ uncured, all-beef sausage is swaddled in puff pastry. Puff Dogs are available through Trader Joe’s outlets in 41 US states, selling for $6.49 for a 15.7oz box of five.
However, while the Californian company calls its “marriage of beefy and buttery … pretty genius” on its website, the so-called “new invention” is a bone of contention with the Brits, who claim it’s an exact replica to the English sausage roll that has been eaten since the 19th century.
Pic credit: DepositPhotos