For the past several years, Lay’s left the decision of creating a new national potato chip flavor to the American public. For those who expected Americans to consider this awesome responsibility and exercise good judgment, may we remind you some of the flavors that made it through: mango salsa, gyros, and worst of…
Lay’s, it seems, is always looking for a new flavor for its line of potato chips. Previously, the chip-maker as hosted a “Do Us A Flavor” contest, resulting in customer suggestions like the Crispy Taco and Chicken & Waffle potato chips. But the company’s latest effort appears to be even more ambitious: Lay’s “Tastes…
We used to be amazed at everything. And then life happens and we become more jaded. Wonders cease, cynicism settles like a fog. So what I’m about to tell you is truth, not hyperbole in service of a false premise: Snacks continue to strike me with awe like no other medium. A Magritte painting or Chopin mazurka don’t…
The Brits have a far more sophisticated potato chip culture than us Yanks. This is not some big revelation. One rationale is that the English are far more open to meats and seafood flavors in non-meat and seafood forms. Take snacks. Beef steak is the most American of proteins, and yet there’s virtually no…
The grocery store seasonal aisle is a refreshing bastion of predictability: Valentines’ Day chocolate, Halloween chocolate, and Christmas chocolate come to mind. In some parts of the country (I live in the northern Chicago suburbs for example), a portion of the seasonal aisle is reserved for other less…
Taco Bell’s Nacho fries were the gift we didn’t know we needed. But Fire-sauce tortilla chips will be the gift we absolutely know we need.
We’ve been writing a lot lately about various food items we’re running out of, so it comes as something of a shock when we spy a possible food source that’s currently in excess. We might be more excited about this discovery if the food source in question wasn’t jellyfish.
What’s your chip dip philosophy? Is it a supporting character to the marquee potato chip? Are chips the convenient delivery vehicle for dip? Are they dance partners working in tandem?
Original Prongles, a wart hog-emblazoned brand of chips in a very familiar cylindrical can was released this past week as something of a social media mystery. Who was behind such this fun, zesty, delicious-verging-on-copyright infringing snack? Internet sleuths eventually figured out the strange minds behind the game …
Trader Joe’s is the rare American grocer to adopt the British obsession with offbeat potato chip flavors. Recent years have seen TJ’s introduce something called South African style (smoked paprika and garlic powder), Sriracha, ghost pepper, honey butter, among other flavors more appreciated outside the U.S. I’ve…
In Fran And Cameron Eat On The Company Dime, A.V. Club staffers Fran Hoepfner and Cameron Scheetz eat on the company dime. This week, our resident and compulsive snacker critics got their hands on the three finalists from Lay’s 2017 “Do Us A Flavor” contest. This year’s flavors are everything bagel with cream cheese,…
We writers, needing constant fuel to pen our hot takes, require some sort of snack in our mouths at all times. We’re not being immodest when we say we’re connoisseurs of any fun-size foods.
Let’s imagine ourselves at Kettle Brand potato chips headquarters in Salem, Oregon. The end of the fiscal year approaches, and Kettle knows it needs a big hit to meet its annual sales goals. One eager marketing associate, just a few years out of college—let’s call him “Miles”—speaks up, his young, confident voice…
Every year, a group of A.V. Club writers descends on the Sweets & Snacks Expo, ready to perform some powerhouse journalism. The trade show—put together by the National Confectioners Association—gathers candy- and snack-makers big and small, assembling them in a giant convention hall, where they battle it out for snack…
