The announcement last week of a Grey Poupon wine is a reminder of how mustard brands have mastered the art of creating limited-edition foods and beverages featuring weird flavor combinations for use as promotional tools. Some of the relatively few but always conversation-worthy examples over the years include: Kraft Heinz’ Grey Poupon “La Moutarde Vin” […]
Archive | Food/Beverage
Kids in the Kitchen
By Karen Raugust on September 20, 2021 in Character/Entertainment, Content, Design and content themes, Food/Beverage, Licensing
Kids’ cooking- and food-themed content continues to proliferate, including in the form of TV shows, social media content, cooking and baking competition shows, and spin-offs of existing children’s IP. Several of these properties have dipped their toes into licensing, consumer products, and promotions, to various degrees. Here’s a sampling of some of the properties and […]
Offbeat Treats
The trend for bizarre flavor combinations has extended into the ice cream space. This includes limited-edition novelties created through partnerships pairing corporate owners of food brands with smaller specialty ice cream marketers known for their unusual flavors: The latest iteration involves Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, a brand of the Kraft Heinz Company, in a collaboration […]
Tea Time
By Karen Raugust on July 22, 2021 in Character/Entertainment, Experiential licensing, Food/Beverage, Licensing
Traditional English-style afternoon teas tied to characters (and sometimes other properties) have represented a growing piece of the experiential-licensing landscape since the mid-2010s, at least in some parts of the world, with a particularly notable burst of activity beginning in 2019. Even during the pandemic, at least between lockdowns, a few licensed afternoon teas were […]
Designer Drinks
Celebrities of all types have been increasingly active in the alcoholic beverage space, entering into licensing agreements, short-term collaborations, and joint ventures, as well as launching their own companies, to create new brands of beer, wine, and spirits. As fashion designers have expanded their businesses well beyond couture and ready-to-wear into a broader lifestyle positioning, […]
Party On
Last October, we took a look at the emergence of licensing deals and collaborations in the hard seltzer category. At the time, a handful of brands, such as Hard Rock and Ralph’s Italian Ices, had entered the category through partnerships with alcoholic beverage makers. Since then, this space has become a go-to category for appropriate […]
Taste of Japan
Boxes of food—DIY meal kits, restaurant takeaway meals, and direct-to-consumer gift boxes filled with treats—have gained traction during the pandemic, thanks to their convenience, simplicity, and experiential characteristics. In the past couple of months, a mini-trend has emerged within this segment as purveyors of Japanese food in the U.S., U.K., and Europe have paired with […]
Digital Cooking Brands Turn Up the Heat
Digital-native cooking brands have been expanding their licensing activities in the last year. The properties tend to appeal to a young-adult demographic that needs accessible information and inspiration to prepare healthy and good-tasting meals. They have large and active fan bases across YouTube, Instagram, and other social channels, as well as on their own websites […]
Eating Out, At Home
The challenges faced by restaurants during COVID-19, especially those that do not have strong take-out, curbside, or delivery infrastructures in place, have been well-documented. Perhaps that is why there has been a flurry of announcements about new retail brand extensions—most often in the form of licensing deals—into the food and beverage category in the past […]
A Weapon in the Chicken Sandwich Wars
Quick-service restaurants specializing in fried chicken, not to mention other fast-food chains including hamburger, taco, and pizza specialists, have introduced chicken sandwiches to great fanfare over the past couple of years, leading to the current so-called “chicken sandwich wars.” Experts trace the start of the war to a skirmish between an early Popeyes sandwich and […]