Name: Valentine Dots
Brand: Tootsie
Description: Tootsie Roll Industries Inc.‘s new Valentine Dots feature two flavors in every piece—passion fruit/vanilla and cherry/vanilla. Available in recloseable theater boxes that hold seven ounces and feature red and pink heart graphics, they are designed for both vertical and horizontal displays. With a SRP of $1, they ship in 12-ct display-ready cases.
Notes: Tootsie has been really aggressive with their new Dots and for the most part I think they’re a success. I was a little disappointed to see the return of the cherry and vanilla after having that in the Christmas Dots, but my guess is that people really like cherry so they’re trying to nab the most people.
Name: Sour Patch Jelly Hearts
Brand: Frankford Candy & Chocolate Co.
Description: The fruit-flavored sour then sweet jelly candies pack in 13-ounce laydown bags of assorted Redberry, lemon, lime and orange flavors. With a SRP of $1.99, they ship 24 per case.
Notes: I guess it’s less creepy for the holiday of love to not bite the heads off of little children, instead just eat their hearts. Honestly I think maybe the texture might vary with a larger disc-like version of the candy.
Name: Valentine’s Skittles
Brand: Wrigley’s
Description: The Skittles brand’s cherry and strawberry assortment in singles packs with holiday graphics. The two-ounce packs come in 60-ct counter units and have a SRP of 50 cents.
Notes: Honestly, I have my doubts these actually exist. I’ve been scouring store shelves and have not seen them at all and have never seen a holiday mix for Skittles before this either. I’m sure folks who like cherry would love a cherry Skittle mix, so these might strike a chord with red fans everywhere. (Not so different though from the Fave’Reds Starburst, actually.)
Name: Red Vines Valentine Chews
Brand: American Licorice Co.
Description: The bite-size heart-shaped red and pink chews come in Red Vines original flavor and pack in 10-ounce bags with heart-shaped windows. Bags have a SRP of $2.59 and ship 24 per case. The company also unveils new packaging designs for Sour Punch Valentine Individually Wrapped Twists. The red and pink Twists are in 10- ounce laydown bags in Strikin’ Strawberry flavor, with a to/from space on each pack. With a SRP of $2.89, they ship in 24-ct display-ready cases.
Notes: I actually prefer the bags of nuggets they do to the vines, since they’re softer and easier to eat because they’re single bites. I’ll keep an eye out for them.
Name: Hawaiian Fruits Life Savers
Brand: Wrigley’s
Description: Life Savers will offer a new and exciting hard candy variety with the launch of Hawaiian Fruits As the first new Life Savers hard candy flavor offering in over a year, the Hawaiian Fruits assortment quenches consumers’ love of new taste combinations with five delicious and fruity flavors: Mango Melon, Pineapple, Pina Colada, Tropical Punch and Banana
Notes: These should already be on shelves, but I’m pretty confused. They sound pretty much the same as the classic Tropical variety roll/package and if they discontinued that, I’d be pretty upset because it’s my favorite (it includes Tangerine with Banana and Pina Colada).
Name: Panko Bar
Brand: Chuao
Description: The Panko bar, made with a Venezuelan dark chocolate blend, roasted panko breadcrumbs and sea salt is a modern take on classic bread and chocolate combinations like pain au chocolat and the American favorite, chocolate covered pretzel.
Notes: Supposedly these are already on store shelves since November, but I can’t find them, and I live a scant 100 miles from the factory. I got to preview a little bite at the Fancy Food Show. The panko bread crumbs are small little savory crisps in the deep dark chocolate, much like a chocolate croissant if the proportions were reversed between the bread and the chocolate.
Name: Skittles Fizzl’d Fruits
Brand: Wrigley’s
Description: Beginning March 2010, Skittles, the No. 1 teen confections brand, will launch Skittles Fizzl’d Fruits, a new bite-sized chewy candy that fizzes in your mouth to deliver a tongue-tingling sensation! Each pack of Skittles Fizzl’d Fruits contains unpredictable fizzing experiences in five assorted berry flavors: Strawberry, Berry Punch, Melon Berry, Wild Cherry and Raspberry. Available in 1.8 ounce single bag and 3.3 ounce theater box.
Notes: Sorry I don’t have a preview image on these, but I was really excited when I saw the announcement of them at NACS last October. It sounds like they’ll be like Sour Skittles only the coating will be fizzy. I think the name is a bit of a downer (fizzled instead of fizzy), but for the most part Skittles are a winner and I’m looking forward to them.
Name: Dark Chocolate Quinoa: Midnight Crunch
Brand: Alter Eco
Description: Alter Eco has announced the launch of a new addition to its line of Fair Trade, organic, carbon-neutral dark chocolate bars. Dark Chocolate Quinoa: Midnight Crunch combines smooth, rich dark chocolate with the delicious crunch of healthy quinoa crisps for a vegan offering that’s also GMO- , soy- and gluten-free, and contains no artificial flavors or sweeteners. Ingredients are sourced from Fair Trade farming cooperatives in Bolivia and South America. The product is manufactured in Switzerland.
Notes: I previewed this at Fancy Food Show as well, I wanted more crisps in there, but it’s great to see a dark chocolate crispy bar that’s also fair trade. Alter Eco makes excellent products and just redesigned their packaging.
Name: Shrek Ogreheads
Brand: Spangler Candy Co
Description: Spanger Candy Co. teamed up with Dreamworks Animation to create Shrek Ogreheads, bright green marshmallow treats that are shaped like Shrek and come in a Swamp Apple flavor. The product piggybacks on the popular Shrek film franchise, which will continue with the release of “Shrek Forever After” in May 2010.
Notes: Uh, yeah ... Shrek green marshmallows.
Uhh, the Shrek heads intentionally look like boogers, right? I guess I can see the appeal that would have for kids.
As for the fizzl’d fruits skittles they are amazing! They do taste like sour skittles with an awesome fruity fizzy feel to them! I took a picture of the packaging because I have never seen them I believe a sales rep came into my fiance’s work and got car worked on and provided them all with samples of new things! The fizzl’d fruits ended up being one! And I can’t wait til March!!
After reading this, I am particularly excited about the fizzy Skittles and the Chuao Panko bar. I guess I need to get out there and shop!
Do you know where I can find those red vines? I am craving some right now!
where can i find the sour patch jelly hearts in bradenton, fl?
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