CHICAGO — The NACS Show trade show floor grabs attendee’s attention for an array of reasons: bright colors, appetizing smells, humans in costumes, real race cars … and flavor names.
How’s “Craft Beer” sound? Bland, perhaps, except when it’s the name of a Plochman’s mustard flavor, made using Bourbonnais, Ill.-based brewer Brickstone’s Pale Ale. Another flavor of Manteno, Ill.-based Plochman's, its newest, is Champagne.
“Everyone has been stuck in their homes for the last 12 to 18 months, and now, if you’re going to go out and get something different that’s not in the home, you need something to differentiate it, whether that’s flavor or quality,” said Will Bowron, vice president of wholesale distribution at Red Diamond, Birmingham, Ala. “That’s why we’re introducing watermelon iced tea. We also have a great LTO, Pumpkin Harvest, along with Chocolate Hazelnut. So, it’s something different that you’re not getting in the home.”
In its Fruzen slushie line, Red Diamond is offering Peach Tea and Citrus Green Tea.
Sunny Sky Products, Houston, has a Reese’s Hot Chocolate dispensed beverage, while its Pure Craft Beverages line dispenses Raspberry Hibiscus and Pineapple Papaya.
“People are experimenting,” said Emily Wood Bowron, vice president of marketing at Red Diamond. “They really want to see what they can pull from all over the world. We’re a very international community now, and I think they’re trying to capture the interest of the consumer and get them out and get them motivated to try something different to visit their store. It’s interesting because people are developing a lot of wacky flavors but really, truly what we’re seeing right now is a nostalgia-based trend where the consumer is looking for something slightly familiar and comforting. So, when you’re doing your product development, you have to balance the familiar with the new. You can’t go totally of the wall.”
Salt Lake City, Utah-based Frazil’s No. 1 seller is Tiger’s Blood, a blend of strawberry and coconut. This flavor is joined by the company’s new-for-2021 flavors Wildberry (red raspberry, blueberry and strawberry) and Root Beer Float.
Offerings from David’s Cookies, Cedar Grove, N.J., include prepackaged cake slices. The Rainbow flavor is a vanilla base with white chocolate layers, Acadia icing and nonpareils. Food coloring provides the rainbow effect. Other eye-catching flavor names at the 2021 NACS Show in Chicago included:
- Johnsonville, Sheboygan Falls, Wis., has an Andouille Scramble Wrap, a grab-and-go breakfast offering.
- Tony Chachere’s Famous Creole Cuisine, Opelousas, La., has a Crispy Creole Fish Fry Mix.
- Chicago-based Iltaco Foods sells a Pulled Pork BBQ Puff.
- One of the Ooey Gooey Butter Cakes from Prairie City Bakery, Vernon Hills, Ill., has the trending flavor of Birthday Cake, with sprinkles baked in.
Nearing launch in the Sweet Sofia’s Bakery line from Kenilworth, N.J.-based Taste It Presents is the Cinnamon Churro Bar, an oat bar studded with chewy caramel and topped with buttery cinnamon crumbs. This flavor is in response to requests from c-store and foodservice clients for flavors with an international flair, said Joan Axelrod-Siegelwax, vice president of specialty channel.
Dallas-based Teazzers, dispensed fresh-brewed teas, has Sweet Passion Fruit and Pineapple Papaya Green Tea.
Perfectly Southern Fresh Fried Chicken, a line from Naperville, Ill.-based Eby-Brown, offers its clients Waffle Dust to sprinkle on c-store fried chicken. The white powder adds a maple waffle flavor.