Chippuccino

Chippuccino?

Chippuccino is coming to a store near you. Seriously.

Lays Do Us a Flavor Contest FinalistsAlong with Bacon Mac & Cheese, Wavy Mango Salsa, and Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger chips, Frito-Lay is now shipping Cappuccino potato chips to supermarkets around the U.S. Those four flavors were the winners from thousands of submissions in the Lays Do Us a Flavor contest, which had consumers submit their best ideas for new flavors of snack chips.

It’s hard to believe that this innovation — widely panned in popular reviews — is the product of those masters of the “extraordinary science of addictive junk food” that the New York Times warned us about earlier this year. After all, these are the same people who brought us the fiendishly addictive Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while the food police were busy killing their soda business.

The impulsive snacking business is the saving grace of  PepsiCo’s business portfolio. In their most recent results, it was up by 2%, offsetting a 2% decline in the mortally wounded soda business. Worldwide, they’re feeding us 5% more units of snacking calories.

So maybe we will soon all be craving the taste of “coffee, but with a hint of styrofoam cup.” That’s how one reviewer panned this new offering.

Don’t laugh. Who ever thought Sharknado would take the country by storm?

Click here to read more from the Boston Globe and here for some candid reviews. Click here for more about the strength of the Frito Lay snacking business.

Chips, photograph © SimonQ / flickr
Grouchy Cappuccino, photograph © Premshree Pillai / flickr

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2 Responses to “Chippuccino?”

  1. August 09, 2014 at 7:08 am, Mary-Jo said:

    Do you remember Alfred E. Neuman’s pat line “What, me worry?” This must be the mantra in the halls of Pepsico’s inner sanctum whenever the obesity epidemic topic comes up. Look, it’s hard. Companies still needs to turn over profits. People are still entitled to choice. There are no easy answers. But, it would be great if innovations would result in health-improving, yet tasteful, convenient options. And, it would be fantastic if folks would more habitually choose health-improving options. It takes discipline, creativity, and alot of collaborative support of all the stakeholders. All too often I find myself looking at what’s still happening and think ‘What obesity epidemic?!” Have you ever looked at most of the HuffPostTaste tweets? It’s tough ‘out there’ if one struggles with obesity.

    • August 09, 2014 at 10:27 am, Ted said:

      I understand your worries, Mary-Jo. It’s hard for me to figure out how a business that’s striving to sell more and more snack foods will benefit humanity.