The past 12 months has seen lots of ups and downs, innovation and new products, acquisitions and mergers within the food and beverage industry. Darren Wood compiles the 14 most quirky news stories of the year.
If we’re talking quirky news stories, there’s no better way to start than with the story that Swiss chocolate maker Fornerod teamed up with Eurolactis, a company that sells donkey milk, to make the first ever donkey milk chocolate bar. You can read the full story here.
When plastic beer rings are discarded, they often find their way into the ocean, where they pose a threat to any marine animal that mistakes them for food. But what if the rings were made entirely from edible materials? We reported this here.
Back in June, we reported about an American innovator who launched a new crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, with a bid to get the world’s first range of cricket and mealworm bolognese pasta sauces off the ground.
In a truly unique marketing concept, Rocket Fuel, the brand of energy coffee owned by Food Brands Group (FBG), launched a rocket into space as part of a £160,000 marketing activation. As part of the activity, Rocket Fuel found a campaign ambassador from a public search by placing adverts in newspaper classified sections for someone to be its very own ‘rocket man’. You can read the full story here.
In a bid to fight surplus bread waste, in September we reported that Adelie Foods joined forces with Toast Ale.
Brewed by the renowned Hambleton Brewery using surplus bread from bakeries, delis and sandwich manufacturers, Toast Ale uses more than 220kg of Adelie’s waste bread. This has resulted in more than 6,000 beers being made solely from Adelie’s contributions.
This summer, Warner Leisure Hotels’ ice cream van toured the UK serving consumers a series of adult-only ice creams made with ingredients such as Jägermeister and tequila.
The array of boozy ice creams included IcePA, a beery Mr Whippy soft-serve ice cream poured out of a classic bar pump and into a pork scratching cone. Other offerings included Jäger bombe, which was described as a grown-up twist on the classic ice cream bombe with Jäger- and energy drink-flavoured ice cream; bacon-flavoured ice cream with a crispy bacon garnish and a shot of bourbon to chase; vodka martini with vodka sorbet and olive-flavoured sprinkles; plus tequila-flavoured sorbet served in a martini glass with a rim of salt. Read all about this here.
Back in June, KFC offered consumers in India the chance to both refuel and recharge at the same time, with the development of new packaging for its meal boxes that doubles as a charging unit for mobile phones.
Cleverly titled Watt a Box, the new offering from the American fast food chain was offered to a select number of consumers in its Mumbai and Delhi locations. In addition, consumers in India were given the opportunity to win some of the limited-edition meal boxes through a competition on KFC India’s Facebook page.
KitKat’s mascarpone and melon flavour launch in Japan may have been one step too far for many consumers; the new KitKat flavour received a mixed reaction on social media, with some praising the brand’s creative attempts and others stating they will be steering well clear of this iteration of the popular snack, as we reported here.
In May, we reported that Popcorn brand Joe & Seph’s created what it called ‘the first official Marmite popcorn’.
The divisive flavour combined Joe & Seph’s air-popped corn with smooth, sweet caramel before being generously glazed with the savoury flavour of Marmite to make ‘a brilliant sweet and savoury combination’.
When thinking of ale flavours, probably for most, mustard would be a long way down the list of desirable tastes. However, Chalk Hill Brewery in the UK launched Mustard Ale with a 5% ABV, as we reported in May.
Japanese snack manufacturer Koikeya introduced two new crisp flavours, as we reported back in May.
The toast-flavoured crisps were designed to taste and smell like lightly grilled bread and contain butter made in Hokkaido, in northern Japan. The milk-flavoured crisps, meanwhile, smell and taste like dairy and are fortified with extra calcium.
A black pizza is usually a sure sign that it has been baked for too long – but a gourmet pizzeria in West London started offering consumers pizza made from a black dough that offers all the health benefits of activated charcoal. Pizzicotto’s Boccanegra pizza is topped with Fior di Latte mozzarella, spicy N’duja sausage, basil salsa and burrata cheese. Read all about it here.
Artisan chocolate brand Choc on Choc created a collection of ‘deliciously decadent hand-crafted confectionery’ in time for Easter.
The indulgent line-up included an intricately designed giant chocolate hen with gold eggs; a chocolatey take on traditional hot cross buns, made from chocolate and filled with marshmallow; a caramel-filled chocolate Easter egg; and chocolate quail’s eggs.
Back in March, a new retail franchise offered British consumers a glimpse of liquid nitrogen ice cream. The futuristic parlour, brought to the UK by ice cream maker Four Winters, enabled consumers to enjoy ice cream inspired by the four seasons of the year, with the added spectacle of seeing it freeze on the spot.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2022
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