Fido's Mints

I love theme-based products like this new "Fido's Mints" from Denver, CO-based Amuse Mints because they open things up for all sorts of puns and laughs.



First, notice the two words on the left of the tin that reads, "For People".

If you didn't read that right away, you'd think Amuse Mints created actual breath mints for dogs. In fact, that's what I thought. I went to their website to look up the ingredients thinking it was going to have the same stuff you'd find in Greenies or something. But then I saw the words, "For People".

The catch phrase, "Don't be caught with dog breath", makes a clever marketing angle. "Dog-gone fresh breath" is rather ordinary, though. I might have tried something like, "Freshen your breath doggie-style", or maybe, "For really ruff breath". And I guess if I was losing my job I would have put, "For when you've licked yourself there".

Visit Amuse Mints online...
http://www.amusemints.net/

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Bubbilicious Ink'd Gum

Bubblicious Ink'd Bubble Gum by Cadbury Adams is now available in the US.

The bubble gum comes in rolls with seven individual pieces. The Sour Frantic Fruit flavor also boasts that yo'll be "ink'd" by coloring your tongue as you chew.

As a child I specifically stayed away from candy that colored my tongue, lest the adults know I'd been indulging.

Bubblicious Ink'd Canada website.

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Breyers Ice Cream Poppers - Kisses

Breyers has introduced a new line of Ice Cream Poppers in a co-branding with Hershey's Kisses. The ice cream bites are shaped like Kisses.

They currently come in two varieties, the one shown is vanilla ice cream covered in a milk chocolate. The second is chocolate ice cream covered in milk chocolate.

The small tubs hold 8.5 fluid ounces and can easily be shared without the need for spoons or ice cream scoops.

In further brand extension with Hershey's, there are several other candy-themed varieties: Heath Ice Cream Poppers & Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Poppers.

Kisses are currently celebrating their 100th anniversary.

Breyers has also entered into ice cream branding deals with Goya, Mars (M&Ms and Twix) and Kraft (Oreos).

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Toblerone Fruit & Nut Bar

Kraft is introducing a new bar to the Toblerone family of bars.

The new Toblerone Fruit & Nut Bar joins the Toblerone Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate bars, which all feature the honey nougat bits that have set it apart, along with its unique shape from other European chocolate bars.

"The honey and almond nougat blends perfectly with raisins whilst maintaining the distinctive taste of Toblerone that millions of consumers have grown to love." (source)

The article above mentions the British market for the product (introduction in August '07) but makes no mention of North America. As the Toblerone bar has gained momentum as a more common chocolate bar in the states, it appears this one will continue Toblerone's unique selling position and may be poised to oust the Nestle Chunky bar as the current "chocolate and raisin" bar.

Has anyone seen these on shelves yet?

Toblerone website.

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Doritos Collisons - Hot Wings & Blue Cheese

Doritos Collisions Flavored Tortilla Chips feature two different flavors in one bag (saves you all that trouble of picking up two bags).

The first introductions in the US is the combo of Hot Wings and Blue Cheese and Zesty Taco and Chipotle Ranch flavors.

They will be sold in 12 1/4 oz. (347.2g) pillow bags.

X-Entertainment got a hold of both the Hot Wings/Blue Cheese and Zesty Taco/Chipotle Ranch varieties and have a roundup and Taquitos.net has a review of the Hot Wings/Blue Cheese and was pleased.

Doritos website.

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GudFud

GudFud (pronounced "goood foood") is brand of stuffed marshmallow candies just introduced in the United States.

Stuffed marshmallows are not uncommon in Asia as a sweet treat (and can be found in Asian stores in the US) but have not been formally introduced here yet.

GudFud capitalized on the popularity of the candies is Japan and Malaysia and brands them for the American market. The first flavor varieties introduced here are the Chocolate Stuffed Marshmallows and the Fruit Jelly Stuff Marshmallows (grape, orange & strawberry).

The candies are currently available on the GudFud Website in sample packs and full boxes.

See Candy Blog for a roundup of Asian candies from Aji Ichiban, including stuffed marshmallows.

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Sun Chips - Cinnamon Flavor

Sun Chips is expanding their line of savory whole-grain chips with their new sweet Cinnamon Sun Chips.

Made by Frito Lay, the package boasts that Sun Chips Cinnamon have 18 grams of whole grains per serving (and who eats just one serving?) and 30% less fat than regular potato chips (who eats cinnamon potato chips?).

The Chips are offered in a 3 oz. and 11.5 laminate bag.

The rest of the Sun Chips line includes: Regular, Garden Salsa, Cheddar and French Onion.

Sun Chips website.

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Sparkling Yunker

Sato Pharmaceutical, Inc is introducing the Japanese liquid supplement energy drink called Sparkling Yunker to the United States.

It comes in a 6.4 ounce bottle and contains "Coenzyme Q10, vitamin B6, and herbal supplement - Turn on the energy!"

The fortifications are aimed to supporting your cardiovascular and immune systems.

Though the package and announcement of the new item makes no mention of it, I'm assuming that it's carbonated because of the word "sparkling" in the name.

The 6.4 fl. oz. cans are sold singly with a suggested retail price of $1.95, and in a 6-pack with a suggested retail price between $10.00 and $12.00.

Yunker is already a well-known brand of well-being liquid supplements, sold in small 30 ml amber bottles with names such as Yunker Kotei Solution and Yunker Super Royal and Yunker Super Grand.

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Asher's Individually Wrapped Chocolate-Covered Sweets

Asher's, a maker of mid-level chocolate confections based in Souderton, PA has recently made its most popular treats a little more accessible.

Look for individually wrapped, single portion chocolate covered items at check out counters and coffee houses soon. No word on pricing (I'd expect $1.00 to $1.50).

Varieties include: Peanut Butter Marshmallow, Pecan Caramel Patties, milk and dark chocolate Graham Crackers, Chocolate Covered Chocolate Cookies [Oreos], milk and dark chocolate Pretzels and Vanilla Caramels.

See Asher's website for more about their candy line.

See Candy Blog for a review of three of their new items.

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Simpson's + Ben & Jerry's = Duff & D'oh-Nuts

In yet another The Simpson's Movie tie-in (there's the remodeling of 7-11 stores across the country as Kwik-E-Marts and the associated merchandise), Ben & Jerry's announced their extremely limited edition ice cream to celebrate the occasion.

The new flavor called Duff & D'Oh-Nuts will be a combination of chocolate and cream stout ice creams with glazed chocolate donuts thrown into the mix.

You may remember Ben & Jerry had characters vaguely based on them in the episode D'Oh in the Wind where Seth & Munchie ran a profitable organic juice business (that Homer proceeded to wreck).

You can only get the ice cream at the Springfield, VT celebration of movie premiere on Saturday, July 21, 2007. D'Oh!

See full article at Burlington Free Press.

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Nestle Giving Away 500,000 Candy Bars

Nestle is putting on a really big blitz to introduce folks to their new Nestle Crunch Crisp bar. The bar features a chocolatey coating over layers of crisp wafer planks and filled with a chocolatey cream.

Those interested in the bar should keep their eyes out for the appearance of the Nestle car that will be dispensing coupons good for one single-serving bar.

"Put a Little Play in Your Day" Summer Tour Schedule"

Date...................City .................Location
Thur, July 26 ....Philadelphia, PA .....Dilworth Plaza
Tue, July 31 .....Pittsburgh, PA .......Market Square
Thur, Aug 2 ......Cleveland, OH ........Star Plaza
Tue, Aug 7 .......Minneapolis, MN ......Peavey Plaza
Tue, Aug 14 ......Chicago, IL ..........Grant Park
Tue, Aug 21 ......Dallas, TX ...........Market Street
Tue, Aug 28 ......San Diego, CA ........Seaport Village
Thur, Aug 30 .....Los Angeles, CA ......Promenade / Santa Monica
Thur, Sept 6 .....Seattle, WA ..........Westlake Plaza

For a review of the new bar see Candy Blog.

More info about giveaway.

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Hardee's Introduced Blueberry Biscuit

Hardee's has added some sugary goodness to their line of "Made from Scratch" biscuits on their morning menu.

The new Blueberry Biscuit will be sold at participating Hardee's restaurants in packages of one (99 cents), two ($1.59 ) or six ($3.59).

"Made-From-Scratch Biscuits from Hardee's really began the quality trend on fast-food breakfast menus way back in the late 1970's," said Brad Haley, Hardee's executive vice president of marketing. "So, the only way to top them was to, literally, top them ... with blueberries in blueberry syrup and white icing." (Via PR Newswire.)

Click here to find a Hardee's location near you. Hardee's is owned by CKE Restaurants that also runs Carl's Junior, Green Burrito and La Salsa.

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Sparkling Lemonades from Rieme

GermanDeli.com is distributing the French sparkling limonades from Rieme in the Unite States. You can find them at their website and at small upscale grocers.

The bottles hold 750 ml and have a hinged cap for storing unused portions and maintaining the fizz.

The sparkling drinks come in four flavors: Blood Orange Lemonade, Grapefruit Lemonade, Orange Lemonade and classic Lemonade.

The bottles retail for $5.79 on their website and probably at similar prices in stores.

Rieme is also known for their fine flavoring syrups for coffee drinks and alcohol mixers.

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Pop Tarts Splitz

Pop Tarts, made by Kellogg's has announced a new product in their line of filled pastries to be heated in a toaster. Pop Tarts Splitz feature two different flavors in one tart (well, two since they come two to a package).

Not only are there two fillings (strawberry & blueberry shown) they also have matching frosting on those sides.

Boxes are sold with four packages, two tarts to a package for eight total and 14.1 ounces.

Pop Tarts has also been marketing their line of Go Tarts, which are, you know, packaged for folks on the go (as if that's not the idea of the original format of Pop Tarts?). Go Tarts appear to be more bar shaped and perhaps a bit thicker and not intended to be eaten warmed.

The official Pop Tarts site is super frustrating for those looking for actual information (but a great place to virtually play with your food) so head to the Kellogg's pages for texty info.

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World's Largest Kiss Unveiled

The World's Largest Hershey's Kisses Chocolate was revealed at a ceremony at Hershey's Chocolate World in Hershey, Pennsylvania on July 7th. The 30,540 pound Kiss marks the 100th anniversary of the foil wrapped chocolates and qualifies as the "The World's Largest Piece of Chocolate" according to the Guiness Book of World Records.



The most interesting part of this is the actual construction, shown in this video provided by Hershey's. The Kiss stands 12 feet high, 10.5 feet wide at the base and is covered in 16,460 feet of foil. It took nine days and 152 people to construct ... if it were made out of actual Hershey's Kisses, it would have taken 2,901,300 to make the huge Kiss.

When initially introduced in 1907, the pieces of chocolate were wrapped by hand on assembly lines in the factory and even Milton Hershey's mother would join in with the wrapping at home to help her son out.

The current Kisses products are: Hershey's Kisses milk chocolates, Hershey's Kisses milk chocolate with almonds, Hershey's Kisses milk chocolate filled with caramel, Hershey's Kisses Special Dark chocolates, Hershey's Kisses chocolate truffle, Hershey's Kisses milk chocolate filled with peanut butter, Hershey's Kisses milk chocolate filled with cherry cordial creme, Hershey's Hugs and Hershey's Mini Kisses Cookies.

The giant Kiss will remain on display at Chocolate World through July 12th. (No word on what they're going to do with the 15 tons of chocolate that it took to make it.)

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Toostie Roll Midgees - Sugar Free

Toostie Roll is introducing their new Sugar Free Tootsie Roll Midgees.

They'll be sold in 3 ounce bags containing the familiar individually chocolate chews.

Their promotional material states, "This chewy, chocolatey treat, sweetened with Splenda, offers the same great taste and texture as the original, without any of the sugar."

They should be priced around $1.89.

Anyone tried them yet, do they match the original?

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Pepperidge Farms 100 Calorie Packs

Pepperidge Farms has introduced new 100 Calorie packaging of their famliar cookies.

The Chessemen Butter Cookies are small shortbread style cookies with shapes of chess pieces on them.

The new packaging has 5 individually sealed packages with .71 ounce servings of the cookies (100 calories).

As a reference, an ordinary package of (the full-sized) Chessmen cookies is 7.5 ounces. For those who can't seem to eat .71 ounces from an unmoderated bag, Pepperidge Farms has solved the problem. Even if you fall off the wagon and eat all five package in the box, you're still only getting 500 calories, where you'd be getting over 1,000 in a regular bag. (Most likely at the same price.)

For more on the new trend in portion control packaging see the New York Times this week: In Smaller Packages, Fewer Calories and More Profit (basically, buy yourself a box of baggies and a calculator and save yourself a LOT of money).

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Lindt Creation 70% Bars

Lindt & Sprungli is introducing a new line of filled chocolate bars under the Lindt Creation 70% label.

The 70% cacao bar has a creamy mousse filling of Cherry and Chili peppers which give it a sweet, tangy and spicy kick.

Other flavor variations in the line include: Chocolate Mousse and Orange.

The 5.3 ounce bar is sizeable (most other Lindt bars are in the 3.5 ounce range). Lindt is often seen in the grocery aisles (along with their individually wrapped Lindor truffles). No word on retail price.

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Peeps Peppermint Stars

Just Born is adding another item to their insanely popular Peeps marshmallow line. For the winter holidays they're introducing their first peppermint flavored Peeps.

Peeps Peppermint Flavored Marshmallow Stars are five-point-star shaped with a dusting of red sparkles.

Peeps boast no fat and are gluten free.

The 3 3/8 oz package holds 9 marshmallow stars and will retail for $.99.

There's nothing on the official Peeps website about this yet.

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The Best Kettle Chips

The New York Times wants you to have the best Independence Day cookout ever. So they've done a roundup of the top ten kettle style potato chips. The winner? Kettle Chips Lightly Salted.


Read through these three different articles about the emergence of the Kettle Chip, their manufacture and the taste test results.

(Image source: Tzirel Kaminetzky for The New York Times)

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Koolickle Pickles

Koolickles have been making the rounds in foodie circles for a while, especially since an article appeared in the New York Times this spring (photo source). They're pickles marinated in brine with an added boost of Kool-Aid. A popular item in the Mississippi Delta, grape and cherry are the most common.

Double Quick, a chain of convenience stores based out of Indianola, Miss is expected to launch prepacked Koolickle Pickles in the USA. Currently the sugar/flavor boosted pickles at home-spun stores go for 50 cents to $1.00 per pickle. Double Quick has been selling the unbranded Kool-Aid pickles for at least a year, but has been attempting to trademark the Koolickle name. Kool-Aid has already given tacit endorsement to this off-label use of the drink mix, but I could find no mention of whether or not they'll contest the use of "Kool" in the name of the new brand of pickles.

Anyone tried them?

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Smoke Stack Snack Sticks Flavors

Smoke Stack Snack Stick and Cheese from Old Wisconsin Food Products company are offering new varieties of their popular meat snacks that combine convenient shelf stable cheese and beefsticks.

New flavor combos include:

• Beef Sausage & Cheddar Cheese
• Turkey Sausage & Swiss Cheese
• Beef Sausage & Jalapeno Cheese

Sticks are 2.75 ounces and gluten free. Retail price is $2.99.

Look for them at convenience store locations, grocers and drug stores.

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