Company: Krispy Kreme, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Website: www.krispykreme.com
Introduced: November 2011
Distribution: National
Suggested Retail: $1.09 for a 4-oz. package of Glazed Chocolate Pie; $4.29 for a 14.9-oz. box of Dipped Cake

In a move toward boldly-flavored, healthful products, manufacturers are finding innovative ways to meet the needs of consumers who favor sweet and savory bakery foods and snacks. Starting with the dessert first, familiar flavors and healthful benefits can be found in many of Wholly Wholesome’s pie products.

The snack industry should plan on attending or exhibiting at SNAXPO 2012, March 16-19, in Phoenix at the Phoenix Convention Center. Hosted by the Snack Food Association, this exciting diamond anniversary (75th year) snack event will provide opportunities to network with snack food industry professionals from around the world, learn the latest and greatest trends and technologies and hear interesting speakers, such as former Arkansas governor and best-selling author, Mike Huckabee.

According to the website, ideafinder.com, we consume more than 4.3 billion lb. of snack food a year, which could be why snacks may soon end up becoming America’s favorite meal.

On its own, chocolate is a wonderful treat. Marry chocolate with the perfect flavor pairing, and the snack becomes even more memorable. Classic pairings, such as chocolate with peanut butter, raspberry or mint, are here to stay, but adventurous flavors are growing in popularity.

It can be rather tough for sweet goods products these days. The huge movement to better-for-you items hasn’t exactly been good news and a smooth fairway for this category. But bakers and manufacturers of sweet goods, snack cakes and other delectable treats are watching the demands just as closely as producers in other bakery market segments, and heeding the calls.

Cookies are a robust segment within the bakery industry. There are brands that have been around for decades and have become household names, but there are also many up-and-coming brands that offer unique flavors for niche markets and are set to become the next class of pros.

Busy lifestyles and affordability aren’t the only reasons why consumers add frozen baked goods to their shopping cart each week.

From flavors to popular culture, what’s hot and cool are what drives new products from the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company.

Harris Interactive recently released the results of its 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend study, which analyzed the responses of more than 38,500 consumers on key measures of brand health for more than 1,500 lifestyle, product and service brands. When questioned about the brands they are likely to reach for when craving a salty snack, respondents chose Lay’s Potato Chips—the top-ranked salty snack for the past eight years—followed by two other Frito-Lay North America brands, Doritos and Tostitos.

Pretzels have been around for more than a thousand years, originating in southern Europe around 610 A.D., according to historians. Today, crispy, hard pretzels are consumed by people in many of the countries represented at the 2012 Olympics.

When it comes to the Olympics, most people prefer some sports over others. The same holds true for consumers when it comes to snack foods.

Low in calories, high in fiber—popcorn may just be the perfect natural snack. Of course, that doesn’t stop manufacturers from trying to up the ante by enhancing all the whole grain has to offer. Now, popcorn can be found competing with chips, pretzels and even candy in the snacking Olympics.

Marketers of beef jerky, a favorite of truckers and a staple at gas-station checkouts, want it to be a healthier snack. Makers of the spicy, salty dried treat find that consumers can accept turkey versions and are now stepping up sales with moister, tastier and fancier dried-meat products, some in flavors such as Basil Citrus and Lemon Garlic.

Pork rinds are probably the most misunderstood item in the snack category. This is surprising, because people have been eating pork rinds—also called pork skins—as long as they have been eating pigs. One of the world’s first snack foods created thousands of years ago, and favored in the southern states, pork rinds are a simple combination of fried pork skins and salt.

Phoenix-based Inventure Foods expands its portfolio of brands by entering into a licensing agreement with Vidalia Brands of Glennville, Ga., to develop new snack line.

Rudolph Foods’ Second Annual Pork Rind Appreciation Day campaign will culminate on the biggest football day of the year 

Potato chips and chocolate? Snack manufacturers and bakeries are experimenting with unique combinations to satisfy consumers’ desire for a snack with the perfect sweet-savory blend.

Biscuit lovers have until midnight on April 22 to enter their favorite biscuit recipes in the International Biscuit Festival 2013 Biscuit Bake Off.

The one and only Eli’s Cheesecake, considered a Chicago food icon, could be the largest specialty cheesecake bakery in the country

Bakery products are evolving all the time in today’s market. To win the race, they mix healthful and tasty ingredients with a scoop of distinction.

We’re always multitasking, so when you can’t decide whether to have something sweet or savory, why not have both? Consumers can, with a variety of new sweet and savory options.

Flowers Foods’ latest addition to its product portfolio—Mrs. Freshley’s Cinnamon Coffee Cakes—is sure to please cinnamon lovers.

Demand for chocolate in snack and bakery items is driven by two core consumers: Luxury seekers; and healthy snack eaters who both share a common desire for great-tasting chocolate produced in a sustainable fashion. 

What entices each bite of a mini salted-maple, toasted-almond Cronut—as I recently relished at Donut Savant in Oakland, CA..

Snack producers and bakers have expanded their explorations into sweet-savory profiles, with sweet-salty, sweet-spicy and sweet-herbal all gaining favor.

The California Fig Powerball was created as a snack to take on the go, a quick bite that will provide a burst of energy that also delivers sound nutrition.

Cracker Jack’D, a Frito-Lay brand, has added a protein-packed snack mix to its product line—Cracker Jack’D Protein Mix.

This past year has been an exciting one for the baking industry, especially in terms of the progress made on revising the ANSI/ASB Z50.2 Bakery Equipment Sanitation Standard (formerly known as the “BISSC Standard”). Representatives from across the baking industry, including bakers, bakery engineers, bakery equipment manufacturers and academics have come together to give their input on updating this standard.

Is it just me or does it seem like the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate came out just last week? 

Frustration with Washington continues to mount, with the serious challenges facing our country.

The long and tortuous path to enacting and implementing President Obama’s signature achievement, the Affordable Care Act, has taken yet another twist.

During and since the two-week government shutdown, there has been a lot of analysis from across the political spectrum. The analysis includes a lot of finger pointing and blame assessment. At the end of the day, it was the abdication of leadership by all parties and no coherent strategy for how to end the stalemate that lengthen the shutdown.

Last month, I had the opportunity to offer testimony in support of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal to modestly scale back the amount of ethanol required to be produced under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been on a roll lately. Its regulatory agenda is so full that advocates went to court to force timelines on the multitude of food-safety regulations required by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). 

Are you thinking about restocking your packaging supplies? If you are, then you have a lot to think about before making the investment. 

After the resounding victory by Republicans at all levels of government—local, state and federal—in November, there was some speculation about the posture and tone President Obama might take in his final two years in office.

A growing and consistent theme in the policy debates in which the American Bakers Association (ABA) is engaged is the importance of science to fortify our position.

Many of us are asking ourselves where the summer went, and it is difficult to find a good answer. I hope you had some deserved downtime with family at some point.

When 2015 began, most Washington, D.C. observers predicted more gridlock in Washington.

Multiple prevailing trends at the consumer and regulatory levels will factor into the business concerns of the bakery industry over the coming year. These include product-development dynamics like non-GMO, nutritional labeling, transparency and food safety—all of which have the potential to positively influence overall shopper perceptions related to bread and the other baked goods that play a part of dietary patterns.

One of the strangest, most-convoluted policy fights in the history of modern food just cleared a major hurdle in July with President Obama’s expected signature of the GMO Labeling agreement between Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

With the election of Donald Trump, and a slightly narrower Republican majority in Congress, Washington and the national punditocracy is both stunned and clamoring to find meaning in the election results.

With great trepidation that this column will become immediately obsolete or at least very dated in the short time from submitting it to publication, I want to address the whirlwind of regulatory relief announcements from the new Trump Administration.

The 2017 American Bakers Association (ABA) Convention featured our most thought-provoking and provocative program yet, centered around the enormous disruptions impacting the baking industry.

This past year on the Stronger Together tour, after the merger of the American Bakers Association (ABA) and the Biscuit & Cracker Manufacturers’ Association, we stopped at Kansas State University (KSU) to meet with the Bakery Science & Management students and participate in the Grain Science and Industry Advisory Council meeting.

During the tumultuous first year of the Trump Administration, the untold story has been the significant efforts to mitigate the numerous regulatory overreaches by the Obama Administration.

At long last, FDA has provided guidance on many dietary fibers. To be clear, the FDA announcement covers about 70–75 percent of common dietary fibers in use today, so more work needs to be done.

I recently met with one of the most actively engaged and supportive members of the American Bakers Association (ABA) and their senior management team. They asked me to provide a market and Washington update.

Even though the year started in a partial government shutdown, the government relations team from the American Bakers Association (ABA) continued to push forward on several key regulatory initiatives.