New flavors, textures and lots of spice: 7 manufacturers showcase innovations for ‘flavor seekers’

LAS VEGAS — Convenience stores are the quintessential snacking retail outlet. Swing up to the corner store to grab Doritos and a Diet Coke. Take a break at a travel stop during a road trip to buy an energy drink and a bag of gummies. 

At the NACS Show, CPG companies presented their latest products, trying to capitalize on current trends, including bite-sized munchies like Hostess’ Bouncers and super spicy Ghost Pepper Herr’s chips. There were also several licensed products, using well-known flavors such as Sour Patch Kids and Fruity Pebbles. 

As Spencer Fivelson, Conagra’s VP and general manager of snacks, said, “C-stores are the place for flavor seekers.” And the companies at the show didn’t shy away from packing their products with a punch.

Here are some of the food and beverage innovations that could stock c-store shelves and boost impulse buys. 

Ferrara chews its way to the top of the candy segment

The candy giant is a mainstay in c-store aisles, leading the category as a top confections manufacturer. Its Trolli line, for instance, dominates the sour gummy space and is the second biggest sugar brand in c-stores, said Greg Guidotti, Ferrara’s chief marketing officer. SweeTarts is growing 30%, while Laffy Taffy is seeing 50% growth.

So Ferrara is not looking to reinvent the wheel, but instead create candies leveraging the brands consumers already love with the new trends. Take its Nerds Gummy Clusters, which are bite-sized candies that have a chewy center covered in the crunchy candy. 

“Our business next year is trending to be $300 million on Nerds Gummy Clusters alone,” said Adam Roscher, chief customer officer. 

Nerds are the fastest growing business in the category right now, growing at almost 100%, said Guidotti. “[Nerd Gummy Clusters] plays off the trend of multisensorial — so multicolor, multiflavor, multitexture,” he said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-career, innovation.” And it’s poppable. 

Ferrara applied these same qualities across several of its iconic brands, from SweeTart to Laffy Taffy. They launched brightly colored SweeTart gummies and are rolling out Laffy Taffy Fruit Combos. 

Celsius creates a new Vibe with a twist on fruity taste

Over the last several years, Celsius’ success as an energy drink maker has skyrocketed — representing 34% of the category growth for the 12-week period ending July 10. And the c-store space is a prime space to continue building on that trajectory, with CEO John Fieldly calling “convenience a huge opportunity.” 

As it looked to innovate beyond its core offering, Celsius introduced its newest line, Vibe, which maintains the company’s fruity profiles, but with a twist. “Celsius’ Vibe line is really a little bit more fun, a little bit more inviting,” said Fieldly. 

Currently, it comes in three flavors: Arctic, a sparkling frozen berry; Peach, pulling in sparkling white peach; and Tropical, with sparkling starfruit pineapple tastes. 

Debuting at the NACS Show is a new flavor, Mandarin Marshmallow, which Fieldly said will come out in the summer. It has the fruity taste of mandarin with a sweet marshmallow finish. While it seems like an unusual combination, it has similarities to a Creamsicle. 

Kellogg makes breakfast an anytime, anywhere occasion

After the popularity of its Froot Loops and Apple Jacks Jumbo Snax, Kellogg has partnered with Cinnabon to debut a frosted cinnamon pastry-flavored version of its cereal treat. 

“It’s really the concept of taking a breakfast occasion and creating something where you can just take the bag and have a late afternoon snack,” said Daniel DeMeyer, senior director of commercial strategy, small format for Kellogg. “We’ve had success with Froot Loops and Apple Jack [but] we actually think this will be the best one because Cinnabon has such strong brand awareness. It’s been voted the most craveable brand for four years.”

In keeping with the breakfast theme, Kellogg also featured its RX A.M. bars, which were announced earlier this summer. The new bars forgo the dates that give its core products a chewy texture, and use oats and nut butter, among other ingredients, to provide a crunchier texture. 

Coca-Cola reformulates and Freestyles its way to new drink offerings

A long row of beverage tastings lined the Coca-Cola counter, with sips of Coconut Lime Vitamin Water, Flat White Costa Coffee from a can and a reformulated version of Fanta Orange, among at least a dozen offerings. 

Among the most interesting was its limited edition Sprite Strawberry Lymonade, which Carlton Austin, director of retail strategy and commercialization, said was an innovation created based off data from its Freestyle machine. 

“The insights we gained [from the Freestyle machine], we’ve used to actually launch some innovation in the form of our LTO portfolio,” said Austin. “So the number two mix we saw with Sprite is strawberry.” The drink hits shelves next summer. 

Arriving early next year will be a reformulated Powerade, with 50% more electrolytes than the leading sports drinks in the category, Austin said. 

C-store retailers will also have a new option for their frozen beverages with Coca-Cola’s What the Fanta Halloween, which will also come in bottle form, too. The limited-edition drink is a mystery flavor, masked by a dark color, and will debut next year.   

Conagra plants a RedHot flavor in its seed line

Conagra’s food portfolio is home to several c-store favorites, but among the top are its David and Biggs brands. 

“Our seed business is heavily over indexing in the c-store,” said Fivelson, who added that one of company’s top SKUs in the entire category is dill pickle. 

With that in mind, the CPG giant paired its sunflower seeds with one of the biggest trends in recent years — spicy hot — to launch David Frank’s RedHot. 

PepsiCo spices up its snacks

Following a rollout of a limited edition Tangy Tamarind Doritos this summer, PepsiCo reached back into the tart flavor bag with its Sweet, Tangy BBQ Doritos, which had attendees coming back for seconds. 

It also continued to heat up the crunchy snacks, with several Flamin’ Hot varieties of popular favorites such as Cheetos.

On the beverage side, the company targeted health-conscious consumers with Fast Twitch, its first caffeinated energy drink. The line under Gatorade is has zero sugar and includes Beta-Alanine, Betaine, L-Citruline and B vitamins, among other ingredients.

Milky Way combines classic flavors in new version

Over at Mars Wrigley, a Cookie Dough version of its classic Milky Way offered the taste of a smooth cookie dough flavored nougat combined with caramel and chocolate. It will be available in December in single and share size bars.