Limited Edition Foods

Absolut New Orleans isn’t the only limited edition vodka Absolut is shilling this summer. This chic black bottle was designed by fashionista Ennio Capasa and is being sold as a limited edition in Italy from June to October 2007. Most of the stories about this item are in Italian, so I am not sure what flavor the vodka is … if anyone can read Italian, or has more information, please reply below.

Absolut, vodka, fashion, Italy, limited edition, Ennio Capasa

Pennsylvania’s Turkey Hill diary has a limited edition TastyKake Peanut Butter Kandy Kake flavor out of the summer that is based on Pennsylvania’s famed TastyKakes. The dairy is highly respected, family owned, and seems to make great ice cream so if you are interested grab some while you can. If you can’t get Turkey Hill in your area, the creamery blog reports they have a special program that will send Turkey Hill ice cream to your door. The blog has interesting tips and trivia, and includes recipes … my favorite was the one for the ice cream baked potato.

On a personal note, this limited edition food has finally allowed me to see a picture of a Butterscotch Krimpet. A fan of Jerry Spinelli since I read Who Put That Hair on My Toothbrush? as a kid, I loved Maniac Magee like everyone else … but this Southern girl never understood the Butterscotch Krimpet obsession that is featured in the book. Were they candies? Was it taffy? Was it cake? Well, now we know.

Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli, Tastykake, ice cream, Turkey Hill, peanut butter, toothbrush, book, limited edition

In one of the more genius charitable marketing moves of the decade, Absolut introduced the Absolut New Orleans limited edition at the Tales of the Cocktail festival last week. The flavor is mango with a pepper kick and the bottle features a blues harmonica, but the best part for branding junkies is at least two of the charities are focused on rebuilding the Gulf Coast’s prominent and profitable nightlife and music culture. It is the perfect charitable marketing combination: an innovative idea benefitting a highly-publicized and worthy cause while simultaneously rebuilding a key market and rolling out a new brand initiative. Genius!

Press releases for the vodka credit Absolut with starting the specialty vodka trend in the United States by introducing Absolut Citron nineteen years ago, and since then its lemon-flavored version has become a cocktail staple. From lemons has flowed a flavored cascade, as the specialty vodka concept has turned from trend to floodgate. as Research reports over 200 flavored vodkas have been introduced in the U.S. in the last five years alone and sales reports show both retailers and consumers are feeling flavored vodka fatigue. With this idea, Absolut regained its position as the leader of the marketing vodka race while simultaneously drawing attention to the ongoing efforts to rebuild a still-scarred New Orleans.

Absolut New Orleans is the first Absolut vodka to be named after a city, and one hundred percent of the proceeds from the sales of its 35,000 cases will be donated to Gulf Coast charities. The bottles retail for $19 each on average, meaning that over $2 million could be sent to the New Orleans area as a result of this effort. Chosen charities cleverly include the Louisiana Restaurant Association’s efforts to rebuild homes and nightlife in New Orleans, Tipitina’s Foundation which focuses on rebuilding the region’s music culture, Volunteer Mobile, and Habitat for Humanity.

The marketing campaign for Absolut New Orleans includes a concert series, cocktails such as the Absolut Rebuilder, and the print ad above showing people flowing back into the once-evacuated city. The official launch date for Absolut New Orleans is August 1, a solemn reminder of the dark days at the end of August two years ago when the city was devestated by Hurricane Katrina.

Absolut has plans to introduce more limited edition flavors named after cities in the future, although there is no word on whether charitable contributions will be associated with those geographic tributes as well. Consumers can vote on which city should be next, and why, at Absolut.com.

Absolut, vodka, New Orleans, charity, million, Gulf Coast, cocktail, mango, city, restaurant, Tipitina, Habitat for Humanity, limited edition, Katrina, hurricane

The Amedei Porcelana Bar is a true limited edition: each unique gourmet bar is hand numbered. The bar is made from a rare cocoa beans and while $14 for a candy bar may sound pricey, it is still cheaper than some of the other options for tasting this chocolate perfection. Amedei Porcelana has been labeled “the worlds most expensive chocolate” and is featured in New York’s Serendipity restaurant’s $1,000 sundae.

The Italy-based Amedei company has already won numerous awards for its Porcelana and over the years has developed a rabid following among gourmets.

gourmet, Amedei, chocolate, porcelana, limited edition, New York, Serendipity

Ben & Jerry’s has created quite a stir with its beer & donut flavored ice cream, but it turns out that there is another limited edition ice cream based on a beer available this summer as well. England’s Doddington Dairy has an ice cream called Newcastle Brown Ale featuring ale-flavored ice cream mixed with the dairy’s Newcastle Brown fudge. Doddington Dairy is an award winning regional dairy that is already famous for using Newcastle to make its cheeses.

ice cream, beer, Newcastle, Doddington Dairy, cheese, England, summer

Since July is National Ice Cream Month it seemed like a good time to highlight this summer’s Limited Edition Ice Cream Skittles. The five flavors in the packet are Orange Vanilla Swirl, Strawberry, Caramel Ripple, Vanilla, and Chocolate. The packets have been on the market for a couple months now, and almost every review I have read has said that the Chocolate Skittle tastes like a Toosie Roll and the best of the bunch is the Orange Vanilla Swirl. Overall though the word is that if you have a dollar and you want a sweet snack, skip the Ice Cream Skittles and go for a scoop of the real deal. Special thanks to Cybele at Candyblog who took the Skittles photo above.

Skittles, Limited Edition, Ice Cream, Chocolate, Tootsie Roll

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream has created a special beer & donuts flavor that will be available for one day only as part of the limited edition food deluge accompanying the release of The Simpsons movie. The beer is called Duff’n D’Oh-Nuts after Homer Simpson’s favorite elixer, Duff Beer, and will only be sold in the official Springfield of the movie Springfield, Vermont. The concoction will be a combination of the brand’s stout-flavored ice cream mixed with chocolate ice cream and chocolate-covered glazed donuts, as shown here by a local news station. As an accompanying tribute to Homer, Ben & Jerry’s will also rename one of its popular flavors “Chocolate Chip Cookie D’oh!” for the day as well.

Simpsons, Homer Simpson, beer, donuts, Vermont, Springfield, limited edition, ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s, stout, Springfield, chocolate, chocolate chip cookie dough, pint

Harry Potter mania is sweeping the nation this week, as the fifth Harry Potter movie was released last week and the final Harry Potter book is scheduled for release this weekend. Along with the movie, the book, and wealth of other Harry Potter products this summer of Harry Potter love also brings us a cascade of Harry Potter candy.

For those who have not read them, candy plays a big role in the Harry Potter books. It is by sharing magical candies that the shy Harry meets his best friend Ron Weasley on his first trip to Hogwarts, and candy continues to be a social activity as well as a special treat throughout the series. Certain Harry candies, such as Bernie Botts Every Flavor Beans, have been around for several years now but as Harry Potter mania has increased so has the amount of Harry Potter foods.

At this point almost every candy that has been mentioned in the previous six books has been licensed and created into a candy. While most of them are not labeled Limited Edition, the practical reality is that all of these Harry Potter candies will not be on the market in a few months … much less a few years. Some of the more popular ones may endure, but if you have a particular wizard-themed candy that has caught your fancy you had best buy in bulk before it is too late.

Harry Potter, candy, Bernie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Ron Weasley, Hogwarts

The India Times ran an interesting story last week on the fever for limited edition products in that country. The article mentioned some interesting limited edition foods and beverages that have been introduced in the Indian market in recent years, with ties to Bollywood productions and cricket standing out as unique to the region.

While some of the marketing partners may be unique, Indian marketers echo their Western counterparts in citing the value of limited edition foods as a valuable tool to build consumer awareness of the parent brand:

Pratik Pota, Executive VP – Flavours, Pepsi India, says that the logic behind the 2007 launch of Mirinda Sorbet “was to make the orange drink segment more premium, more unisex (as orange drink consumption is skewed towards women) and differentiated. Sorbet was important to stimulate the segment,” he says.

Pota too says that in carbonated soft drinks, “a flavour variant works well in short bursts as the consumer tends to go back to the mother brand.” What’s left unsaid is how the limited edition actually helped the mother brand. Asif Adil, MD, Diageo India — which is planning limited editions initiatives — however, says that Diageo does an MAE (measure and effect analysis) to try and find out the net impact of such campaigns. “Although I can’t give you the actual numbers there is definitely an increase in the sales of the parent brand,” he vouches.

India, limited edition, Pepsi, soda, Bollywood, cricket, sorbet, marketing, economics, Mirinda

On July 4, 2007 Ruth’s Hemp Foods introduced a limited edition Red, White & Blueberry Hemp Bar created in support of the Vote Hemp initiative. The bar is available as long as supplies last, and for the first three months one hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of the bars will go to Vote Hemp.

The bar contains sesame seeds, organic hemp seeds, raisins, blueberries, cranberries, almonds and other all-natural flavors and textures. It has 180 calories and like all of the Ruth’s products the bar contains no GMOs or refined sugars, transfats or hydroxy fats, and this version is gluten free as well.

If you are interested in tasting the bar but cannot find a retailer in your area, you can buy the bars online for $20.00 for 12 bars. Retailers who would like to inquire about wholesale pricing are invited to do so as well.

If you are interested in learning more about the Vote Hemp campaign they have an interesting website complete with an FAQ that explains the difference between hemp and marijuana. They make a good case for using industrial hemp as a resource rather than treating it as contraband, and point out the ways in which this legal substance is misunderstood in the United States.

Hemp, Vote Hemp, blueberry, cranberry, almond, organic, transfat, GMO, calorie, limited edition, marijuana