New products, pandemic trends and chicken of all sorts were among the most popular news items clicked on by SmartBrief’s food and beverage readers this week. The top pick belonged to McDonald’s, which is rolling out new packaging that expresses the “joyful moments” consumers enjoy with the brand via colorful illustrations.
In other restaurant news, Taco Bell announced the launch of a “crispy chicken sandwich taco” in two markets next month, in both regular and crispy versions. A wider rollout is expected later this year. Bloomin’ Brands also made waves with chicken, as the parent company of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill shared plans to grow its Tender Shack virtual chicken concept.
Consumer packaged goods news had a strong showing this week, with Nestle, Kraft Heinz and Kellogg all discussing growth. Kraft Heinz is planning an agile approach to portfolio management this year while Kellogg is using machine learning and enhanced data analytics to personalize its marketing. Candy news also had a heyday this week, including the rollout of Skittle Gummies at Walmart stores and Mars Wrigley’s deployment of an in-store, candy-selling robot.
On the food retail side, readers were interested in a recent podcast from Trader Joe’s that examines the growth of frozen food and some of the products driving it.
Read the entire Top 10:
- McDonald’s reveals new product branding from Pearlfisher
- Trader Joe’s analyzes hotter-than-ever frozen food
- Taco Bell puts taco-inspired twist on crispy chicken
- Kraft Heinz to adopt agile, aggressive growth strategy
- Nestle CEO: Plant-based innovation is set to grow
- Skittles Gummies rolling out at Walmart stores
- Mars Wrigley rolls out in-store, candy-selling robot
- Kellogg takes deeper data analytics dive to spur growth
- Bloomin’ Brands has big plans for virtual chicken brand
- Coca-Cola to reignite innovation pipeline
Related stories:
- How businesses are feeding the cravings of the comfort- and convenience-centric consumer
- How the pandemic fed the growth of food subscription services
- Community connections help independent restaurants stay afloat amid pandemic
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