NEWS: Ben & Jerry's Churray for Churros Ice Cream

With various folks posting various new pints on social media and my local freezer aisles being quite boring, I do feel a little behind these days....  and then my buddy Eric sends me this:

Ben & Jerry's Churray for Churros! Ice Cream

Buttery Cinnamon Ice Cream with Churro Pieces & Crunchy Cinnamon Swirls

I think the majority of people we're disappointed with Haagen-Dazs' attempt at a churro flavor, so it's nice to see Ben & Jerry's step up and take a crack at it, and according to Eric, they did a good job! Oh man I can't wait to find this one! I may even buy two when I see it.

He also picked up Lights! Caramel! ACTION! which was announced on 12/6/22. This one is also vanilla ice cream with salted caramel swirls, graham cracker swirls & gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough. Eric said this one is tasty as well. Yeah, I'll be picking this one up as well.

So, there is your good news for the day. Have a nice Sunday!

Monday Update: I found both at Whole Foods! >>> Churro review here and LCA review here.

Hudsonville Brownie Batter Cookie Dough Ice Cream

Not sure exactly when this flavor came out, but I'm thinking that it debuted as a limited edition flavor in 2018. By 2021 it was a full time flavor sporting the current packaging you see below.

Hudsonville Brownie Batter Cookie Dough Ice Cream

brownie batter ice cream loaded with brownie and cookie dough pieces

Talenti Vanilla Caramel Mini Gelato Bars

[New for 2023] Something new already? That's right! I went ice cream hunting this week and managed to find one whole new product line. Oh boy! I wasn't super excited for this new line up of four mini bars at first, but click on through to see that it was worth it.

Talenti Vanilla Caramel Mini Gelato Bars #89

dulce de leche gelato with dulce de leche swirls

Muddy Bites Dark Milk Chocolate Waffle Cone Snacks

[Created in 2018, First produced in 2019] I was pretty excited when I first saw Muddy Bites pop up on Instagram. I love that final chocolate filled bite of a Nestle Drumstick, so I thought "how could these not be awesome?" Well, I finally found them at Stop & Shop this morning...

Muddy Bites Dark Chocolate Waffle Cone Snacks

Debranding continues in 2023

I should probably call it rebranding, but I like debranding better. We've all seen products go from branded to co-branded and then rebranded back to the original branding for a variety of marketing and business reasons. My point is, does this nonsense bother anyone else? I know companies love the free advertising generated by people (like me) who like taking pictures of things labeled "NEW", but doesn't it feel at least a little dishonest in some cases?

Up top is the Good Humor Reese's bars from 2011 and below it is the 2023 marketing photo for the "new" Reese's cup. Technically there is one change. While both are 3.3 Fluid ounces, the 2011 version had 280 calories per serving while the 2023 version will have 230 calories.

On the left is the Good Humor Reese's bar circa 2018 and on the right is the marketing photo for the "NEW!" 2023 Reese's bar. It's literally the same ho-hum product. Booooooooo.

Ok, last one. 2022 Klondike Cones! vs 2023 Reeses Cones. Exact same thing. Uggg.... and I say ugg because Klondike Cones are terrible. Ok, I'll stop with the pictures now. You know the same thing will apply to the Reese's tubs of light ice creams and frozen dairy dessert.

Look, I won't argue that the new branding won't catch peoples' attention, it's just that I am a very literal person and these marketing antics have always bugged me. Also, long time readers know that on more than one occasion I have picked on a product that is branded for the sake of being branded. If you give me a Reese's treat, it better remind me of Reese's!

Side Note: The press release also mentions Heath "tubs and pints" headed our way.

History Note: Sometimes a co-brand might switch hands. Last year, Dreyer's/Edy's teamed up with Mondelez to launch those Oreo and Chips Ahoy branded treats. This is why Breyer's flavors no longer say Oreo and Chips Ahoy!

Business Note: According to Bloomberg, Unilever is considering selling Klondike and Breyers. I wonder if Good Humor would be included in this as well.

Final Note: all marketing images courtesy of Unilever.

Ferrero buys Wells Enterprises (aka Blue Bunny)

After over 100 years of being a a family owned business, the folks behind Blue Bunny have decided to sell the company to Ferrero (the people behind Nutella, Kinder, and Ferrero Rocher). It seems like this idea has been in the works for some time, including Blue Bunny doing some sample Ferrero inspired flavors at one point. That experiment kind of reminds me of their lineup that was inspired by Cadbury back in 2012-2014 (reviews here).

I'm not sure how I feel about this development. Blue Bunny won me as a fan when the blog first started. I got a kick out of how they handled flavors and all the fun treats they made. Unfortunately, like most main stream options, their offerings got smaller and lighter and less impressive. Their treat options are still scattered around my area, but their scoopable stuff is fairly hard to find these days. Speaking of "ice cream"....

images courtesy of Blue Bunny

The other day, @candyhunting pointed out that Blue Bunny Soft had hit store shelves. The four starting flavors are vanilla, chocolate, cookies & cream, and mint chocolate chip. (Update: there is also a strawberry flavor) Am I excited? No. I still haven't tried the soft serve twist cones that came out last year either (because of cross contamination). To be honest, I just can't imagine me liking these. I hate the light cones from Klondike and I envision the twist cones would be similar.

Anyway, if you try these, be sure to check back in and left us know how they are. Who knows how long it will take them to hit my area. Also feel free to comment if you are sad or happy about the acquisition. Hopefully it's a good thing, but only time will tell.

Business Note: Almost forgot. The interview with Mike Wells from a month ago said/implied that no one would lose their job, but then a week ago 183 were let go from their Dunkirk plant in New York. Something about scaling back from 20 products to 5/6 products at this location. That's not cool. (I'm curious to see which novelties made the cut.)