Tastes like Christmas: Pringles develops mint choc and cinnamon festive flavors

14-Oct-2013 - Last updated on 15-Oct-2013 at 10:27 GMT

Pringles says that consumers are adventurous enough to find its new sweet mint choc and cinnamon flavors appealing

Pringles' sweet crisp flavors will capitalize on the UK Christmas snack rush and a growing consumer curiosity for flavor experimentation, says analyst.

The mint choc and sweet cinnamon limited edition packs will be available in selected supermarkets in the UK only - Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s - from next week.

Discussing the move Tanvi Savara, associate analyst at Datamonitor, said that two key savory snacks category trends could explain these launches: experimentation and occasion-based targeting.

Open to experimentation

According to a recent Datamonitor Consumer Survey, 65% of UK consumers are willing to try different foods.

“The launch of these two limited edition sweet flavors is in line with a broader sweet flavor migration we’re seeing in the savory snacks category- chocolate flavored pretzels for example,” Savara told BakeryandSnacks.com

“These products could appeal to 66% of UK consumers who find a food or drink product with a new and exotic flavor ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ appealing,” she added.

Pringles has previously released Christmas limited edition varieties including roast turkey and 'pigs in blankets' (sausages wrapped in bacon) in the UK but never sweet flavors.

Pringles’ brand manager Laura Sutcliffe said consumers are more receptive to new and different flavours at Christmas in particular.

Montse Sanchez-Pena – who heads Pringles’ flavour development across Europe and is said to have overseen the introduction of over 100 different flavor variants over the past seven years – said: “The trend over the past few years has been for bringing combined sweet-savoury flavors into new areas, for example in cocktails and spirits, chocolate, and ice cream in particular. So we know people want new experiences and we have been looking at how we can surprise their tastebuds.”

What’s the occasion?

Savara explained that savory snack manufacturers were also exploring different avenues for occasion-based marketing.

“Targeting special occasions is one such route,” Savara said. “Savory snacks have been produced as seasonal, limited-edition offerings in various guises over the years, offering indulgent packaging, flavoring, and shapes appropriate for a specific time of the year.”

This is not the first example of ‘seasonal’ flavors for Pringles - last year it launched three limited-editions variants for the US market. This saw the introduction of cinnamon and sugar,

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pumpkin pie spice, and white chocolate peppermint varieties.

“It isn’t surprising that Pringles is adopting a similar move in the UK market as well. Again it’s about targeting specific snacking occasions to carve a niche and aid differentiation,” she said.

Pringles' flavour head, Sanchez-Pena, said: “We thought about the flavors and ingredients people might typically associate with the festive season. Warm spices and indulgent chocolate are among them so we decided to develop these as a snack."

“Chocolate and mint in particular does sound like an extreme flavor for a crisp but consumers are familiar with the combination. We believe they’ll be curious to try sweet Pringles and they will be a real talking point at parties,” she added.

These new flavors will be on sale for a retail price of £2.49 for a 190g tube.

Last year the Pringles brand was bought by Kellogg from Procter & Gamble for US$2.7bn.