Taste Tested: Food Collaborations
ICEE and Kellogg collaborated this year to create a cherry and blue raspberry flavored cereal: ICEE Crunch.
Kellogg has been making cereal since 1906 and decided to add a summer-inspired taste so they teamed up with an American movie theatre staple. ICEE directs its advertisement towards kids and youth so adults will purchase the food, especially during the heat of the summer.
The packaging was appealing enough to make us excited to try the product. The combination of blue and red hues along with the massive ICEE drink on the front made us believe we were getting a tasty, cold, treat.
But, we had a feeling these would taste a little peculiar, considering the fact that crunchy cereal and sweet, cold, drinks are very different.
When we opened the package, there were millions of tiny spheres of ICEE-flavored treats colored blue, red and purple. These indicated the flavors of each and every color: red was cherry, blue was blue raspberry and purple was a mix between the two.
When we first tried the cereal, it tasted identical to an ICEE. It was like an even more sweetened form of the drink; however, the texture of the cereal threw us off because it was unlike the texture with which we associated those flavors.
Very similarly was the mixed and blue raspberry flavors; reminiscent of the iconic ICEE taste, but they lacked the cold temperature you get with the drink.
The box advertised the fact that you’ll “feel the freeze” of the cereal as you eat it. This “feeling” was very true. When we tasted the first few pieces, we noticed our mouths grew cold.
Overall, we personally did not enjoy the taste of the cereal or feeling of the texture and do not recommend it to others. The branding did its job in communicating the collaboration and sensations, but the product was not very delicious.
The Krispy Kreme collab with Jelly Belly brings together the taste of doughnuts in the form of a jelly bean.
The beans feature five flavors including Cinnamon Apple filled, Strawberry Iced, Original Glazed, Glazed Blueberry Cake and Chocolate Iced with Sprinkles.
Jelly Belly is known for their Bean Boozled line incorporating flavors that look identical between their “good” and “bad” flavors. The “good” flavors such as coconut with the “bad” flavor counterpart being baby wipes. Both are white in color and have no scent difference.
Krispy Kreme is a nationwide doughnut brand that started franchising around the U.S. in the 1990s. When I was little my grandfather would go and get a box of doughnuts from Krispy Kreme at least once a month as a treat for my siblings and I. That treat was something I always looked
forward to. Now every time I go to Krispy Kreme it brings very nostalgic memories.
This collaboration ruined some of the flavors I loved as a kid. Although at first they resemble the classic doughnut flavors, the more you chew the worse it gets.
When you open the bag of jelly beans there is a very sweet smell. The scent is very much that of a glazed doughnut mixed with a jelly bean.
Biting into the bean has a slight crunchy exterior and a soft, chewy interior. The flavor starts out a little waxy but has the taste resembles a doughnut. The more I chewed the more a slightly burnt chocolate taste appeared.
Overall I do not recommend this product and I will not be purchasing or eating this product ever again.
Sparkling Ice partnered with Starburst to put a new drink on the shelves, and these two popular brands created a product worth choosing.
Despite the brands being made 30 years apart, and on different continents, they still ended up having a joint product released this past March. Starburst was introduced to the public in the UK in 1959, while Sparkling Ice came out a handful of years later in 1987 in Preston, Washington.
Lemon
After just our first look at the beverage, we had a feeling that it would be a refreshing and flavorful drink.
At only five calories, zero sugars, and zero carbs, the drink was as tasty as anticipated. It’s a thin drink like any other soda or sparkling water, although there was less fizz than we thought there was going to be.
It also had a fairly strong lemon flavor rather than a Starburst flavor, somewhat like a concentrated lemonade. The drink has a yellow color that matches the wrapping on the outside of the tall bottle. The taste of the drink is also reminiscent of the bright colors of the label.
Overall, we would drink this beverage again and we recommend the lemon Starburst flavored Sparkling Ice to others. It has a refreshing taste and a good consistency.
Cherry
This drink kind of tastes like root beer but Starburst flavored. It is very sweet and tastes just like the Starburst candy version.
Despite the flavor being cherry, it tastes nothing like one. It’s more similar to an artificial cherry flavor. It’s bland and doesn’t stick out too much. It’s basically a very sweet cherry soda.
Being that it is sparkling water, one would assume it is supposed to make you refreshed, but it left us unaffected and unsatisfied.
The flavor wasn’t the best but the packaging and effort put into this product makes it a fine purchase. If Starburst is a brand you find delicious, I’d say you should give this product a try.
And the fact that Starburst’s slogan is “unexplainably juicy,” this product is basically Starburst juice. All in all, we would not purchase this product again but we would recommend this to people who love sweets.
Have a break… have some cereal! We tried the General Mills’ and KitKat’s cereal collab, and here’s why we didn’t like it.
We both enjoy cereal and KitKats, so the expectations going into the taste were high. The expectations were not met.
The packaging invites fans of the candy to pick up a box with the familiar bright red color. After the wave of childhood glee passes over you, the taste knocks you back to reality.
When we smelled a piece of cereal, it was extremely similar to the smell of a real KitKat. As we poured it out, we realized it looked a little like a dog treat, and didn’t taste much different.
Unlike a Cocoa Puff, the cereal itself wasn’t chocolate flavored, it was the dust coating of the cereal. The dust didn’t have much flavor to it either, relying on the artificial aftertaste.
We did eat the cereal dry, however, all good cereal should be able to have a good taste eaten dry. It’s one of the reasons the popular cereals stay popular.
The cereal has the high amount of sugar most kids cereals have, 12g per one cup serving, But you can’t really taste that sugar, or anything.
We wouldn’t buy it again, but if it was put in front of us, we wouldn’t
refuse it.
Overall, don’t waste your money. It’s not going to be a staple like Cheerios or anything, and it’s nothing like when General Mills collabed with Reece’s to make Reece’s puffs. Take a break, skip KitKat cereal.
When I was 4 years old I walked among green vests, smiles and lots of cookies. Skipping through the wooded trail with my troop, I felt content and quite satisfied.
That was the same feeling I experienced when first trying the product P.B. Bites, which is a collaboration between Girl Scouts and the Skippy, a company known for its production of creamy and delicious peanut butter.
This delicious snack consists of Skippy’s peanut butter coating and Girl Scout’s cookie inspired bites. When first biting into it, I was met with a creamy texture of milk chocolate and peanut butter, followed by the satisfying crunch of a wafer-like cookie center.
Skippy was founded in the year 1933 by Joseph Rosefeild. This brand has proven to be a long lasting brand due to its quality and past. This collaboration works because of Girl Scouts’ long history stretching all the way back to 1912 and both still being around today.
At first glance you’re greeted with a small bag decorated with their signature colors red and green. However when opened, the mouth watering scent of freshly baked peanut butter cookies fills your senses.
The taste of this snack is definitely an enjoyable taste, starting off with a smooth texture of milk chocolate and creamy peanut butter, melting into the texture of a wafer-like cookie, ending the experience with a satisfying crunch.
The P.B. Bites are a delicious treat that have many munching for more, giving positive aspects of flavor and nostalgia, these treats are definitely worth trying.
People like mints. They also like soda. But would they like them together?
Tic Tac has released Sprite flavored mints. Sprite and Tic Tac’s are both famous and are usually enjoyed world wide.
The packaging was nice and it was easy to open, even though some may struggle if they have no nails. The mints come out of the box fairly easily, which I was delighted about because my Tic Tac’s always get stuck in the opening.
The texture is the same, just what you would expect from a Tic Tac. Hard and smooth. Nothing out of the ordinary.
My personal opinion of the Sprite Tic Tac’s were just….eh. They taste like nothing with a side of lemon. My partner, on the other hand, did not like it. At all.
He said they “tasted like vomit and lemon.” He prefers the orange Tic Tacs.
We do not recommend this product. At best, it is mediocre. At worst, nasty. Just get a bottle of Sprite and some Tic Tac’s on the side; it’ll taste better.
A collaboration between gamers and food lovers was awakened with the Mario Kraft Mac & Cheese.
The packaging contains 4 mini 1.9 oz cups of ready to cook mac and cheese. At the first glance, you can see the difference of colors and shapes bringing out the Mario vibe, featuring Yoshi and Mario on the front.
When you first rip off the blue plastic top, you are greeted with raw pasta noodles with a white paper packet filled with powdered cheese.
There are four easy steps explained on the back that directs you to fill the cup with water, microwave and add cheese sauce. Once you see the radioactive yellow colored cheese sauce in the noodles, that’s when you know it’s ready for munching.
Paired with a spoon or fork the noodles feel like regular Kraft Mac & Cheese snipped by scissors. With the different textures it feels like Tetris on your tongue. Only the shape of macaroni can differentiate the regular Mac & Cheese to the Super Mario variation.
The cheese sauce melts in your mouth. The taste is artificial yet nostalgic and salty. Because of the way the shapes are shaped the sauce was inside of the noodles itself. Its creamy texture coats your palate, which leaves a lingering sensation and stinky breath. Each bite has a mix of smooth
and slightly tangy aftertaste.
Overall it’s cheap, salty, but brings back childhood memories acknowledging taste buds from 10 years ago. This unforgettable experience can never be replaced and this snack brought us right back home.
It was love at first sight!
As children, many of us grew up watching the first show we saw as we turned on the TV. For me, it was The Smurfs. So when I spotted Haribo Smurfs, I couldn’t resist the nostalgia – it felt like a childhood memory had given me a warm hug.
The original Smurfs movie is a 2011 fantasy adventure movie series that stemmed from a 1958 Belgian comic, and appeals to children and young teens.
Haribo is a German confectionery company that launched in 1920, and also appeals not to only children, but adults alike.
When I ripped open the package, I immediately smelled a sweet, faint smell that brought me back to sneaking Halloween candy and hiding it from my parents.
Visually, the gummies did not disappoint. A Smurf-shaped gummy! Could I ask for anything better?
Resembling a Sour Patch Kid, the gummy was a mix of yellow and blue, classic Smurf colors coated in sugar. The colorful gummies are undeniably adorable.
When I popped one into my mouth, I felt two things immediately. First, I realized this was gonna be harder to chew. Haribo gummies are notoriously known for being tough to chew, but this was to another level. I felt like I was trying to chew licorice.
Second, I felt happiness. The perfect balance of sweet and sour was what I felt initially, but it soon turned into feeling overwhelmed. It was too sweet, similar to taking a big bite out of a Twinkie, and I craved for a bit more tartness or variety to break it up.
I loved the packaging. Haribo: The Smurfs were in big letters, and underneath it stood “SOUR!” But, I don’t know about that one… it was too sweet with not enough tartness.
However, I did love the color contrast with red, yellow and blue! The package size was just right, perfect to pop in your purse or backpack.
I would definitely try it again, but I don’t think they’ll earn a permanent spot in my candy rotation.
Haribo: Special Edition Mix. This name does sound intriguing, but it does not necessarily live up to the hype. This product is a collaboration between Haribo gummies and Target.
Haribo gummies begin with a creative idea first sketched by hand. They are now a successful company that celebrated their 100-year anniversary in 2020. Their slogan is “Haribo macht Kinder froh”: Haribo makes children happy.
On the packaging of this specific product itself, it says “Kids and grown-ups love it so…”.
Target is a company whose purpose is to help families “discover the joys of everyday life.” They were first called “Goodfellow Dry Goods” and then eventually developed into the name Target that is recognized by consumers across America. They recently achieved $1 billion in annual sales, which shows their popularity.
When we first found out about this collaboration, we assumed this would be a new flavor of Haribo gummies, but we were confused as to how this would be executed because what exactly is a “Target” flavor? They have called this the “Special Edition Mix” because we don’t think Haribo knows what a “Target” flavor is either.
In this pack, they have raspberry and pineapple flavors. The Target effect they gave was not with the flavor of the gummy itself, but with the shape of the gummies. Their raspberry flavored gummies were in the shapes of the Target logo, the Target shopping cart and the Target shopping bag. Their pineapple flavored gummies were in the shapes of two different versions of
the Target dog named “Bullseye” and his paw.
The packaging of this product is pretty convenient. They have a resealable top and are small enough to carry around conveniently. The art on the packaging shows the Haribo mascot and the Target mascot smiling and standing next to each other, which shows clearly which two brands are collaborating.
This gummy tastes like, well, a gummy. It’s nothing extremely special, even though it is called the “Special Edition Mix.” As Haribo lovers, we absolutely loved eating these, but we didn’t understand the collaboration between Haribo and Target because we felt there was no difference in the flavor of the gummy itself.
The only small difference we could point out is that they are stiffer than normal gummy bears, but we assume that is because they are a bigger version of normal Haribo gummy bears.
Nonetheless, the gummies do taste very good. There is a difference in the taste between the raspberry and the pineapple, and we prefer the pineapple taste.
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