Fall has come and gone. Those red, orange and brown leaves have fallen; Christmas is less than a week away and temperatures are still dropping. We have seen several changes from the fall season including our favorite foods and snacks. The winter brought another flavor transformation for the food and beverage industry.
Seasonal foods and beverage flavors have become very popular. People wait all year for certain flavors or snacks to be released for a short time. The high demand for these items is partly due to the fact that they are only available seasonally. Brands typically see a jump in sales during these LTOs because of the anticipation.
Winter Snack Flavor Trends:
Peppermint
Peppermint flavored snacks are a fan favorite during the Christmas holiday. It’s considered to be winter’s version of pumpkin spice. Peppermint has been associated with winter and Christmas for many years. Everyone remembers getting candy canes as a kid, right? The candy cane has been a part of the holiday for a long time and the first version of this treat was made with peppermint. The love for the flavor has grown from there.
Eggnog
Eggnog is a drink that most people don’t hear about until the holiday season. The winter beverage has been a favorite for many years and food and beverage companies have created eggnog-flavored versions of our favorite treats.
Even with the massive sugar rush for the day, we greatly enjoyed taste testing the fall food flavored snacks. So we decided to do it again! Just like the last food taste test, we all voted on our top three winter flavored snacks:
- Hot Cocoa Oreos
- Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark
- Mint M&M’s
There were other snacks such as Pepperidge Farm Gingerbread Cookies, Ghirardelli Eggnog Squares, and Red Velvet Oreos, that were really close to being in the top three. Many of the members of our team are not peppermint fans so we were surprised at how much we liked the peppermint bark and Mint M&M’s. Look for our next taste test in Spring 2018!
Need flavor ideas for the next season? Give us a shout!
