I hope that by the time this column reaches you the current heat wave has eased up – that, or you’re comfortably ensconced in an air conditioned cocoon!
Speaking of the heat – kudos to the folks at Giant Food and the BBQ Battle, along with all of the vendors who cooked and served delicious foods and handed out great samples and coupons galore. Despite the oh-so-sultry weather and the non-ending tarmac of hot pavement, tons of Giant team members and many, many volunteers pitched in to put on yet-another successful and fun-filled weekend in the Nation’s Capital. Jeff and I were there and we can attest that working for two days in that heat had to be a labor of love. More than 80,000 people attended the bash and $834,804 was raised in-store at Giant Food for the USO. Additionally, a $10,000 donation was made to Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the National Pork Board donated $100,000 worth of pork – that is 54,000 pounds – to the Capital Area Food Bank to support the families of greatest need throughout the community. Great news!!!
You may remember I wrote after last year’s BBQ Battle about hearing Ben’s Chili Bowl co-founder Virginia Ali address the crowd during the announcement that her restaurant’s world famous chili and half-smokes would be sold at Giant stores in the DC area. Well, this year the first-ever Virginia Ali Scholarship of Ben’s Chili Bowl Foundation was announced at the BBQ Battle and $17,500 was awarded to three Washington, DC high school students as part of the Pepsi Future Chef Recipe Contest.
As always, Giant’s Felis Andrade and her team were on hand to ensure that everything went off without a hitch. Elda Devarie and EMD Sales were also out in full force, sharing samples and coupons of the seemingly endless number of international manufacturers they represent. Over at the McCormick station, Justin Hamm and his cohorts toiled over hot grills to prepare lots of goodies with products from across the McCormick portfolio.
What I’ve written about here is just a small sample of what is on offer every year at the Giant Food National BBQ Battle. If you haven’t experienced it yet, make a note to check it out next year.
You can also view these photos, as well as other photo galleries from all of the events we cover at foodtradenews.com. In fact, I hope you will do that, because we have just launched our newly-designed website and we are excited about the new, more cutting edge and modern look that we’ve achieved with the help of an extremely talented web designer, Andy Metzger. Andy has spent countless hours cajoling all of us on the Best-Met Publishing team into the current realm of digital, and has done so with grace and patience.
Congratulations to the folks at Hughes Sales on being named the Eastern Region Broker of the Year for 2023 for Irresistible Foods Group (IFG) for the King’s Hawaiian and Grillo’s brands. Michael Hughes has owned and operated Hughes Sales for 27 years now and he and his talented team, including his better half Linda Hughes, ably represent manufacturers in the perishables arena, making it no surprise to hear about this news. Good work, all!
The aforementioned McCormick says that innovation has meaningfully contributed to its strong financial results in the first half of 2024 and they expect it to drive that strong performance into the second half of the year.
A large portion of innovation at Maryland-based spice and flavorings giant is coming in heat, according to CEO Brendan Foley during a recent conference call with analysts after the company’s recently released second quarter results. Foley noted that the heat category is also expected to contribute to McCormick’s long-term growth globally.
The company taps into heat with its extensive array of flavorings, and also owns several brands that are synonymous with the segment, including Cholula and Frank’s RedHot. Last month, Cholula entered the frozen category for the first time with the launch of single-serve meals aimed a busy consumers who want flavor and convenience. The eye-catching packaging features the iconic Cholula logo and the product – mainly different flavors of burrito bowls – looks pretty yummy. Another innovation in the category that McCormick has introduced is Frank’s RedHot Dip’N sauces in squeeze bottles in a variety of flavors. Checking out their website, I found a bunch of recipes for things to make to dip into the sauces, such as “Easy Mini Corn Dogs,” “Buffalo Chicken Bombs,” “Pickle Chicken Poppers” and “Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese.” I might have to try one of those, but maybe after this heat breaks!
Lastly, I ran across a story recently on FoodDive.com titled “Why Kellanova see Pringles as its gateway to snacking domination” by staff reporter Chris Casey. It sort of stopped me in my tracks because I remember the first time I tried Pringles – the iconic chip in a can – way back when I was 8 years old. My parents never let us have too many store-bought treats like chips and cookies, but my grandfather was another story. Whatever we wanted, he let us have. So, when Pringles first came out I dragged Pappy to the store to buy me a package. I was hooked from the start. But, that was in the 1960s and since then, I don’t think they’ve done much innovating beyond different flavors and varieties since then. With the exception of a few different types of can-like container, they’ve always been sold in a tube, right?
Well, after Kellanova made the move in 2022 to split off its cereal brands and focus on its snacking lines in order to compete more successfully in that arena against companies like Mondelez International and Pepsico’s Frito Lay brand, a key part of its strategy was to boost the value of Pringles into a $4 billion brand. So, in May, the company announced Pringles Mingles, a puffed snack with a crispy exterior, that – wait for it – comes in a bag. The snack is in the shape of a bowtie, modeled after its mascot Mr. P. The product will debut in stores in October.
My taste for Pringles petered out quite a while ago, and I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to buy any Mingles, but I will be interested to see how this new version of the brand lands with today’s youngsters. I’ll also keep my eye on Kellanova and see what they come up with next.
That’s it, folks. Stay cool and let me know if you hear anything interesting you think our readers should know about. If you do, drop me a note at terri@foodtradenews.com.
