Meet Sundays, the brand that rivals itself with Oreos, but sugar-free.
Created by Jody Polishchuk, the zero sugar crème cookie also packs 7g of protein per serving, with no weird aftertaste and no sugar alcoholds. One 1 net carb per treat.
As the low-sugar movement continues to dominate the CPG industry, Polishchuk noticed a gap in seemingly the most nostalgic category – cookies. He set out to recreate that iconic creme-filled cookie, but sans the sugar. Over 3 years in development, Sundays developed a proprietary baking mix of almond flour, whey protein isolate and oat fibre, along with cocoa powder and alluose as its core ingredients.
“The process of creating a crème cookie that emulates its traditional counterparts was no easy feat. We spent years and tested numerous formulas to land on the final product - I can say without hesitation that the taste is unparalleled,” said Polishchuk.
Sundays cookies are available online – in a Cookies & Crème variant, perfect for dunking in milk – for an RRP of $35.97 for three boxes.
Patisserie Valerie was founded by Theophile Vermeirsch, who was born in Antwerp in 1898. He came to London with his family as refugees in WWI and worked as a pastry chef. In 1926, he opened the first Patisserie Valerie in Soho, London. Today Patisserie Valerie comprises of 29 restaurants across the UK and Ireland.
The British bakery manufacturer has creates two new vegan cakes for nationwide delivery across the UK specifically for Veganuary.
The impressive Chocolate Cake consists of three layers of rich chocolate plant-based sponge, layered with hand-piped chocolate plant-based cream and sprinkled with a chocolate sponge crumb.
A 6” cake serves 10 portions and is £34.95, while the 8” cake serves 14 portions and is £46.95.
Patisserie Valerie also partnered with Lotus to create the perfect indulgence for special occasions, made with a special plant-based recipe consisting of Lotus Biscoff cream sandwiched between three layers of soft vanilla sponge.
A 6” cake serves 12 portions and is £34.95, whereas the 8” cake serves 14 portions and is £46.95
Both cakes are suitable for vegans and vegetarians. All Patisserie Valerie cakes are baked fresh, then frozen and packed with dry ice to protect appearance during transport and to ensure they remain fresh for your special occasion.
Cakes are available for nationwide next day home delivery, or available on Click & Collect from your local cake shop.
The latest flavour innovation from savoury pastry category leaders Ginsters is designed to bring excitement to shop shelves in Veganuary.
The launch is the next in a series of flavour innovations for the Ginsters Slice range and comes hot on the heels of the successful reintroduction of the Ginsters Festive Slice at Christmas and the popular Creamy Garlic Mushroom Slice earlier in 2022. These seasonal launches delivered over 600,000 new shoppers to the category and have driven 47% incremental growth, attracting younger shoppers to the brand.
The Cauliflower Cheese Slice embodies the flavours of the much-loved British classic, enclosed in puff pastry. The cauliflower is served with Westcountry Cheddar cheese and onion in a creamy sauce, with a hint of nutmeg, topped with a mature cheddar and black onion seed crumb. It includes no artificial colours, preservatives or flavours, letting the quality ingredients speak for themselves, and designed to get more consumers to east less meat in January and beyond.
“We are the market leader in savoury pastry, and we want to drive year-round excitement and bring new shoppers into the category,” said Sam Mitchell, Ginsters’ MD.
“We have already proven that our Limited-Edition range can help to do just this, and we hope that this latest delicious flavour innovation will continue to help savoury pastry go from strength to strength.
Shoppers know that with Ginsters, they are guaranteed superior quality and this new slice gives them a great meat free alternative lunch option for the new year and beyond. We are committed to bringing innovation to our category and this is just the beginning of our exciting plans for 2023.”
The 170g Limited-Edition Cauliflower Cheese Slice is available in selected retail until May 2023, for an RRP of £1.65.
Cracker Jack has committed $200,000 to the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF), a national non-profit that conducts research and advocacy and supports community programming, to help girls and women across the country reach their potential in sport and life.
To further support the Foundation’s work in gender equity, Cracker Jack is encouraging fans to donate to WSF in exchange for a special-edition Cracker Jill bag.
After more than 125 years as one of sport's most iconic snacks, Cracker Jack has added a new face to its roster with the introduction of Cracker Jill to celebrate the women who break down barriers in sports. Tapping into the brand’s rich history with baseball, Cracker Jill comes to life through five different representations on a series of special-edition bags, which will be available at the start of this year’s baseball season in professional ballparks across the country and through a donation of $5 or more to the WSF.
“We are constantly inspired by the many women who are making history by breaking the mould, and we want to celebrate their achievements while supporting the progress,” said Tina Mahal, VP of marketing at Frito-Lay North America.
“Cracker Jack has been part of sports for over a century, as records were made and rules changed. We’ve been so inspired by how girls and women are changing the face of the game, so in this spirit we introduce Cracker Jill to show girls that they’re represented even in our most iconic snacks.”
The barrier-breaking spirit of Cracker Jill was brought to life by artist and model Monica Ahanonu, an expert in colour theory and a trailblazer for Black artists. Her colourful portrait illustrations resonated with the campaign goal of celebrating women in sports, along with its remarkable diversity (the five Jills are the most represented ethnicities in the US, per Census Bureau data).
As part of the campaign, Cracker Jack has also partnered with award-winning artist Normani to record a reimagined version of the ballpark classic, ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’, which includes the lyrics, “buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack”.
Said Normani, “As a young girl, I remember being inspired by athletes and artists who looked like me.
“They made me believe that I could also achieve greatness as I watched them break barriers for women. I'm proud to be part of a campaign entrenched in inclusivity and empowerment because it’s vital for young girls to see themselves represented and join in on the celebration of the achievements made by the women before them.”
This collection of Cracker Jill packaging was created to coincide with the opening of the 2022 baseball season, but the intention is for Jill to continue to join Sailor Jack as a permanent member of the team roster and part of the brand ethos.
Wonky food subscription service Earth & Wheat has introduced an Artisan Box as its first new product launch of 2023, in what promises to be a busy year for the food-waste-fighting brand.
The box includes a sourdough loaf, white rolls, muffins (blueberry, chocolate or apple crumble) croissants and pastries (pain au chocolate or pain au raisin). Each and every product is ultra-fresh and crafted by hand by carefully selected artisan bakeries with focus on zero waste. The bakeries achieve this by making ‘food to order’ and allowing for all products good and wonky, to be included so ‘nothing is wasted’.
The Earth & Wheat Artisan Box follows the success of the brand’s wonky bread box launched 18 months ago, along with a wonky veg box last summer. It also brought out a one-off Xmas Wonky Veg Box in the lead up to Christmas.
Founder James Eid said the launch of the new Artisan Box heralds the start of an ‘exciting year’ for the business, which has so far saved more than 500 tonnes of food from going to waste and sent 250,000 meals to food charities.
“We believe our customer base will love it. Every bakery item is crafted individually and sustainably by hand by experienced Artisan bakers with locally sourced flour,” said Eid.
“Our loaves are made as a true sourdough, using a 25-year-old sourdough starter. The dough is shaped by hand and proofed for 32 hours before baking in a stone-based multi-deck oven. The rolls, muffins, croissants and pastries are batch baked, and a wider specification is accepted there is no excess waste.
The concept again continues “our mission of reducing food waste, helping save the planet and contributing to food charities that support the most vulnerable people in our society. For every Artisan box sold, we will be donating one meal to charity.”
The Artisan Box can be ordered on a subscription basis from Earth & Wheat for an RRP of £18.99.
The UK restaurant chain has created the Nacho Hat as seen in Despicable Me and The Simpsons.
The Mexican-style sombrero hat is made from Chiquito’s signature nachos, with a dipping pouch to fill with one of three salsa options: Pineapple, Tasty Tomato or Tamatillo Salsa.
Demand for a real-life nacho hat hit social media after The Simpsons and Despicable Me featured the one-of-a-kind animated version. Since then, mentions has swarmed the Reddit waves, with fans refusing to “believe nacho hats aren’t real. Has anyone ever located a real nacho hat?”
Consumers called and Chiquito answered. The nacho hat is now a reality and full of flavour – made from Chiquito’s very own nacho seasoning that contains fresh, natural ingredients: paprika, turmeric, celery, parsley, coriander, chilli and veggie oil.
Chiquito – established in 1989 and part of the Restaurant Group – dubs itself The Original Mexican Grill & Bar – targeting everyone from the adventurous heat seeker to those who wish to play it safe.
The restaurant chain has created a limited run of hats, but, due to popular demand, has hinted that it may become a permanent placement on its menu.
Crave has secured a listing with Ocado, the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket, for its popular vegan snacks: Pickled Onion Monster Feet and Smokey Bacon Flavoured Streakers.
Following its big win on Channel 4’s Aldi’s Next Big Thing, Crave is experiencing momentous growth, from being listed in Asda, an angel investment and new product in the pipeline.
Founder Rob Brice explains, “The Ocado listing is a great finish to the year for Crave; we are so thrilled with the consumer and retailer response to our snacks. This listing will widen our customer base and mean that more people will have access to Crave’s vegan and free from snacks. We are looking to expand our range of products in 2023, some super iconic products will be given the Crave twist.”
In a highly competitive snack market, Crave has found a niche for creating products that are suitable for everyone, whether their choices are limited by lifestyle or dietary reasons.
“We are all about inclusivity. We think crisps should be about maximum taste and sharing with friends and family, so we are striving to make free-from mainstream and flavour focussed, rather than hard to find or bland and boring,” said Brice.
Crave’s Pickled Onion Monster Feet and Smokey Flavoured Streakers are listing with Ocado for an RRP of £1.85 for an 80g sharing bag.
AB Mauri has developed Pure ProGrains, which includes four new mixes designed to make it simple for craft and medium size bakeries to produce breads that deliver significant benefits.
Each new Pure ProGrain mix has been developed to a specific recipe, which allows on pack claims for fibre, protein and digestive health, creating added value opportunities for bakers.
It is often challenging to develop healthier products that are also genuinely delicious, but the development team at AB Mauri have decades of experience in process improvement and ingredient innovation alongside access to global technology. It’s thanks to their heritage and proven skillsets that they can offer authentic, nutritious breads such as Pure ProGrains.
“We believe we have a significant role to play within the UK baking industry to support our customers with bringing new technologies to market which can be used to formulate healthy and nutritious foods for consumers,” said Vicky McColl, nutrition & insights manager, AB Mauri UK & Ireland.
“As part of our commitment to FDF’s Action on Fibre initiative, we are working with technology and research partners to find solutions which help overcome the challenges often seen with developing higher fibre foods”
Ingredients have been carefully selected so bakers need simply to add flour, yeast and water – then mix, process and bake. The mixes are flexible and versatile, allowing bakers to create several different types of bread and rolls from the same mix.
Andrew Dinsdale, sales & marketing director, AB Mauri, UK&I, said, “Meeting product characteristics such as great taste, texture and appearance while also fulfilling ‘hot’ consumer trends are key drivers for consumers buying behaviour. The development team have worked immensely hard to innovate and create a modern range of healthy bread mixes that offer bakers with an attractive value proposition.”
Added Thomas Mackay, business unit controller – Craft & Confectionary, AB Mauri UK&I, “Many of our customers may not have the time nor the resources to innovate against current trends, with our access to global insights and our development expertise we have selected specific ingredients and technologies which create fantastic tasting, healthy, products that perform and deliver every time.”
