Posts from the ‘Newborns’ Category

Jan 7

Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche M&M's My friend Todd tipped me off to this M&M/Mars attempt to win over the Latin American candy market. He saw them while in L.A. recently and said they were too sweet, but I’m still obsessed with why we don’t have them here. I’m such a bigger fan of caramel than chocolate. I discovered that this summer they were being test marketed in L.A., San Antonio, San Diego, Miami, Puerto Rico and Brownsville. It’s not as if NYC is lacking in a Hispanic audience for these things. Hurry up, already.

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Nov 30

Fast Break

Reese's FastBreak It’s not every day a new candy bar comes along. The last memory I have of a new major candy debuting is from the Portland Starlight Parade circa 1981 when people were passing out promotional Twix bars to the crowd. Caramel and cookie covered in chocolate? Oh my. (Do they still do the Oreo version? Now that’s just over the top.) It makes more sense for a nine year old to get excited over new candy than a 29 year old, but some things never change. I’m not even sure if the FastBreak counts as a major invention. It’s not from scratch new, just a variation on the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup theme with added nougat and in stick form. But at four for a dollar at Rite Aid, who’s to argue?

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Aug 11

Times Are A Changing

Milk Changer Oreos I’m not a big fan of store-bought cookies, but I always skim the shelves for interesting new additions. There’s always TV and movie tie-ins, like some “Atlantis” cookies from Nabisco or who knows what company. Cookies are right up there with breakfast cereal for advertising co-branding (hideous word, I know) potential. I like to note which Keebler Rainbow Chips Deluxe cookies are on the shelf, as the colors of the M&M-like candies are seasonal. They do pastels in spring, red white and blue around Fourth of July, darker jewel tones in the winter, etc. If you see the pastels in Nov., you have an idea how well a particular store monitors its stock.

But the new Oreos are the point here. I guess the stuffing contains some sort of dye that colors your milk pink when dunked into it. Creepy if you ask me, but then I was the kind of fussy youngster who wouldn’t drink milk unless my mom made it green with food coloring. All that coddling stopped by kindergarten, but I can’t deny the existence of the bad habit. Obviously I was born about 25 years too early, the food world would be my oyster right about now.

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Mar 22

Incredible

Macchili IncrEdibles Oh my…I’m almost speechless. I’ve never actually seen these in the store (probably for a good reason) so I’m not sure if they qualify as “newborn.” Fetus is more like it, and they’re about as appealling as one too. The Breakaway Foods Company is taking fast food to a new level with such tasty American favorites as mac & cheese and scrambled eggs and sausage–on sticks! Those mini microwavable Chef Boyardee atrocities were just too much work, I suppose. I mean, it’s tough using your hands and opening your mouth at the same time.

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Feb 28

Whither the Internet?

These times really are a changin’. I remember the good old days when every little product had a goofy website, complete with flashy games and useless information. Internet cutbacks in the snack food industry, perhaps? I don’t know, but I was sorely disappointed by the paltry coverage of the new Kellogg’s® Eggo® Waf-fullsTM on their site. Eggos don’t even get their own product page. I wanted to learn more about these apple cinnamon, maple and strawberry filled monstrosities. I mean, waf-ful doesn’t rhyme with awful for no good reason. I’ll get to the bottom of this.

And speaking of lame websites. Nestlé is even worse. I’d seen these Mocha Nestlé Bars that probably aren’t even new, but they were to me. I wanted to know more, dammit! The only American product site they had was for Butterfingers and the link didn’t even work! Fortunately, Kit Kat Japanese and Lion Bar German were kind of cool.

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Nov 21

Ye Olde Shoppe

Pillsbury Toaster Bagel Shoppe I've never really gone in for shop being spelled with an extra P and an E, but what I really don't get is how the word shoppe can be used to describe an edible item. Leave it to Pillsbury. These are like toaster pastries, but with a bagel crust. Flavors include plain cream cheese, strawberry and cream cheese, blueberry and cream cheese and cinnamon rasin. This could either be really right or really wrong. I'd actually like to taste them, but no one in my 'hood seems to be stocking them yet. Get on it, Doughboy.

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Oct 16

Halloween Madness

There seems to be an inordinate amount of new products out this year. Sheer craziness. I was out at my favorite grocery store, Western Beef in Ridgewood, Queens (they have the largest walk-in meat locker I’ve ever seen. Great when it’s a blistering 98° out, not so good in October) when I saw these out of control orange and black s’mores pastry treats. Remember, these are not Pop Tarts, this is the Nabisco version, and as the site says, “Even when they’re hot they’re KOOL!”

Spooky I also noticed that the Just Born company has made black cats and white ghosts in the style of marshmallow peeps. I think there must be something tricky about achieving a dark purple color with food dyes because the end result always turns out looking creepy and gray. (The same is true with cheaper brands of purple eye shadow. The color is always murky and less bright on than in the container.) This works fine for Spooky Cats since it’s Halloween and it’s o.k. to be scary and ominous, but this year Hostess tried making purple Snoballs for Easter and they were neither cheery nor festive (though they tasted mighty good).

I’ve never cared much for mint (and it always seems like when I mess up and accidentally push the wrong buttons on a vending machine, I end up with Junior Mints), but I was amused by the York’s “Peppermint Batties” I saw the other day.

I was happy when I noticed a new Rice Krispies Treat at a distance. But when I got closer and realized it was the Christmas version, I became a little dismayed. Enough already. People are still wearing shorts outside. I felt a little better about the Ghostly Rice Krispies cereal. Pumpkins and ghosts=good. Santas and snowmen=we’ll talk in a month or two.

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