Limited Edition Foods

Doritos has a product on the market this summer that is both a limited edition food and a party game. Consumers buy the bag, taste the chips, decide what it tastes like, and then write Doritos and suggest names for the new chip. Buy it for your next cookout and see what your guests come up with in terms of flavors; who knows, maybe one of them will win the grand prize: a year’s worth of Doritos.

The concept is fun, the black bag is hard to miss, and the chips themselves are tasty. The overall idea could be marketing genius if the website for the the Flavor Experiment website was not so annoying.

As for the mystery flavor, here is a hint: don’t eat these if you are a vegetarian.

By the way, Doritos is also holding a contest for XBox 360 game ideas for those who are interested.

contest, limited edition, chips, Doritos, XBox 360, vegetarian

Oreo Dunkers are coming to Canada and the U.K. as a limited edition food product. The Oreo is a classic, but over the years it has been through several variations of color, shape, size, and taste. The Oreo Dunkers are made in an oblong shape which increases the ease of dunking for those who like to dip theirs in milk.

The Dunker is the result of an intensive study made by Oreo’s parent company into how consumers liked to eat their Oreos. It was introduced in the U.S. as a limited edition product last year. Click here for Kraft Foods’ press release analyzing the way that consumers eat their Oreos.

Click here for an ergonomic review of the cookie and its functionality. Special thanks to Slipsonic for the picture of the cookie.

Oreo, limited edition, cookie, dunk, U.S., U.K., Canada

Blue Bell Ice Cream turns 100 this year, and to celebrate they have released a special edition ice cream flavor named Anniversary Cake. The flavor is amazingly described as an almond ice cream mixed with white cake pieces and amaretto cream cheese icing.

When I was younger my mom’s side of the family was pretty obsessed with Blue Bell, to the point that our Texas relatives were not allowed to come up to Arkansas without some carefully packed in a cooler. Now that it is sold in the Natural State I confess I don’t buy it nearly as much, but with the anniversary this month I may have to make an exception.

ice cream, limited edition, Blue Bell, Texas, Arkansas, cake

A few people have asked if the new 3Musketeers’ Mint & Dark Chocolate bar is a limited edition food. Happy news for fans of the bar: this fine combination is intended to be a permanent addition to the 3Musketeers’ line.

The salty minty chocolaty combo is getting great reviews, although some folks are disconcerted by its smaller size. The bar is still new, so more reviews should be appearing around the net in the next few weeks if you are interested.

3Musketeers, chocolate, dark chocolate, mint, candy

A high end agricultural coop has created the perfect wedding item for the bride with a passion for the details: heart shaped cucumbers. Produced in Japan these lovely and light limited edition foods will be on the market until October and cost approximately $2.50 each. The company who created them made headlines by giving several to this couple for their wedding. Based on reports the actual stalks are not heart shaped, but the cucumbers have a heart pattern when they are sliced for an appetizer or salad.

This seems to be the Summer of the Cucumber in Japan, as the vegetable made headlines last month for being the central flavor in a new limited edition Pepsi product named Ice Cucumber.

cucumber, limited edition, vegetable, wedding, Pepsi

July brings fireworks, National Hot Dog Month, and this year … the Reese’s Limited Edition Elvis Cup. This one of the most highly anticipated limited edition foods of the year, and early reviews of the peanut butter and banana creme treat are that it is a food that lives up to the hype.

The Elvis version has been praised by casual candy consumers and serious candy reviewers, and even folks who don’t like bananas report they are pretty tasty. One blogger wrote that he thinks the cup is about perfect … but wishes Reece’s would have gone “balls out” and added bacon like Elvis did.

Have you found the Elvis Reese’s yet? The hunt is definitely on. CandyBlog has an ongoing thread of Elvis cup spottings so post here or there if you find them in your area. If you find them be sure to post which version you have, as observant eaters will notice a different Elvis image blesses various versions of the cup.

For more information on unique Reese’s, check out this review of a restaurant in New York that deep fries the traditional cups. Sounds like a good food contest item for next year’s Texas State Fair.

Reese’s, peanut butter, chocolate, banana, Elvis, tribute, bacon, limited edition

Many thanks and curses to Ryan at About Miami, who blogged about Euro sensation Mika and led to me finding this song which I can’t get out of my head! The connection between snack food obsessions and weight gain is well-documented, so for all of the ladies who have lost the battle of the bulge enjoy this song … contrary to popular belief, just because you have gained some pounds does not mean you have lost your beauty.

Mika, Big Girls are Beautiful, Miami

Transform-A-Snack is a snack product made by Red Mill Foods that sounds limited edition, but is not. Most Americans have never heard of them, which is why there are some misconceptions that they are limited edition foods. In fact, the snacks are popular in the U.K. and have simply altered their packaging to tie in with the Transformers movie. There are rumors they will be offered on a limited edition basis in the U.S. this summer, however, in which case they would transform from a traditional snack food into a limited edition food.

The snacks come in several flavors, including Pickled Onion, and can be “transformed into a moon buggy.” Not quite sure how that works, but it sure sounds cool.

Red Mill Foods, Transformers, snacks, Transform-A-Snack, onion, promo, U.K.

Krusty O’s, the famous cereal from The Simpsons, are now available as a limited edition food. Convenience store chain 7-11 has joined forces with the movie and turned several locations nationwide into Kwik-E-Marts, a reference to the local convenience store in the cartoon that is owned by fan-favorite Abu.

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Airheads candies made a special limited edition “New Wave” flavor of its candy bar to promote the movie Surf’s Up. Finding that specific version of Airheads has proved challenging, but if the very concept makes you crave tangy fruity candy of an unidentifiable texture then you can get the variety pack shown above at Sam’s Club.

Airheads, candy, limited edition, Surf’s Up, penguin