The Week in Consumer Packaged Goods: December 13, 2024 edition

Welcome to The Week in Consumer Packaged Goods, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights that covers the latest must-know news surrounding the CPG space.

Inspired by the TikTok trend of users combining their favorite candy “to create custom — often seasonally-themed — concoctions called candy salads,” Ferrara Candy Company just launched its own take on the phenomenon, per a brand announcement. The Holiday Candy Salad Kit features Ferrara brands and products including Nerds Frosty Gummy Clusters, SweeTarts Twisted Holiday Punch Ropes, Trolli Sour Brite Abominable Snowmen, Brach’s Holiday Soft Jellies and Mini Peppermint Candy Canes, to be mixed together as desired. Available exclusively on Ferrara’s brand new TikTok Shop while supplies last, the Holiday Candy Salad Kit also comes with a limited-edition knit winter hat, glass jar and holiday stickers, all for $30 (plus tax and shipping).

More limited-time launches and collabs:

• “Campbell’s Building Brick Box is a Playful Treat for the Holidays” (Trend Hunter)
• “Green Day’s Punk Bunny Coffee teams up with TBS’ ‘American Dad!’” (Beverage Industry)
• ICYMI: “The Limited Edition Dunkin’ x Native Collection Just Launched Exclusively at Walmart” (StyleCaster)
• ICYMI: “Native x Jarritos Reimagines Soft Drink Flavors as Personal Care Scents” (Trend Hunter)

Cheese brand Alouette just announced a partnership with delivery service Gopuff to make sure party hosts (and their guests) don’t run out of cheese — for one day, at least. All day today (Dec. 13), Gopuff will be available to deliver Alouette Emergen-Cheese Kits to homes and offices in an hour or less to help during “holiday-entertaining emergencies,” per a brand announcement. The kits come complete with a variety of Alouette products (Garlic & Herbs Spread, Crème de Brie and Double Crème Brie) and other charcuterie board essentials, including meats, crackers and nuts, as well as a reusable serving tray. The offering is available in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago right here, for $19.74 — a nod to the year of Alouette’s founding.

Previously: “M&M’S Halloween Rescue BOOths will save consumers running low on candy on Halloween night,” from the Oct. 4 edition of this column.

That’s the average amount of bologna, in pounds, that residents of West Virginia consumed in 2024 — the most of any state — according to data from Oscar Mayer, per Axios. Overall, the brand sold a total of 45,000 tons of bologna over the last year, with the Southeast and Midwest consuming the most bologna per capita. This insight comes as the Kraft Heinz brand is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the re-release of its 1974 jingle “The Bologna Song.”

Natural Light, commonly referred to as Natty by fans, just unveiled a new device called The Neighborator designed to bring neighbors together over a beer, Food & Wine’s Stacey Leasca reports. A “double-sided beer fridge designed to be installed in the fence line that separates you from your favorite neighbor,” the Neighborator is meant to provide a “natural” way for people to forge connections with their neighbors, Leasca writes. The Anheuser-Busch brand will award the all-weather appliance along with a year’s supply of Natural Light (two 24-packs per month for 12 months) to one lucky fan. Now through Dec. 20, neighborly individuals can enter to win by following Natural Light on social media and commenting on the contest post.

Previously: “Coors Light encourages March Madness fans to ‘chill’ with advent-style calendar,” from the March 15 edition of this column.

More brand activations and promotions:

• “Thanksgiving Didn’t Go So Well? Johnsonville’s Game Makes Holiday Safer” (MediaPost)
• ICYMI: “Coors Light’s ‘Beer Bows’ are a Stress-Free Solution for Holiday Gifting” (Trend Hunter)

Kleenex and Amazon just launched an activation designed to “help newly single individuals move on from their exes,” Marketing Dive’s Jessica Deyo reports. “KleenEX: The Breakup Calculator” (available at KleenexBreakup.com) allows visitors to enter details of a recent breakup, such as the type of relationship, its duration and how often thinking of it makes them cry, “to receive a personalized timeline for healing” and “an estimate of how much Kleenex they’ll use,” Deyo writes. KleenEX users will also score a discount code for Kleenex as well as “ex-tras” from Amazon, including a curated breakup playlist and book and movie recommendations.

Still G.I.N. by Dre and Snoop — the spirit brand owned by rap icons Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg — just released a new campaign that brings the duo together with members of Hollywood’s legendary Rat Pack using artificial intelligence (AI), Ad Age’s Jon Springer reports. In a “what-if?” scenario, set in a cocktail bar, Dre and Snoop run into (the late) Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., who end up buying a round of Still G.I.N. for the house, Springer writes. Watch “Still G.I.N. For Everybody: A Toast Between Legends” on YouTube here.

More brand campaigns:

• “Accelerator Active Energy X Travis Kelce Team Up to Unveil a New Flavor” (Trend Hunter)
• “Oatly wants to update Santa’s Christmas Eve milk-and-cookies tradition” (Marketing Dive)
• “Camila McConaughey Dresses Up as Sexy Mrs. Claus Alongside Matthew’s Santa for Naughty Billboard” (People)
• “Rapper Future Partners With Grand Marnier on Multiyear Partnership and New Campaign” (Women’s Wear Daily)
• “Swedish Fish on ‘Sel-Fish’ holiday campaign, going viral” (Candy Industry)
• ICYMI: “Liquid Death & Depend’s ‘Pit Diaper’ is here to keep metalheads hydrated & hardcore” (The Drum)
• ICYMI: “Campaign Trail: Lavazza’s coffee-serving robot dreams of la dolce vita” (Marketing Dive)

Tapping into the recent consumer trend toward “bold flavors,” Ritz Crackers just announced a Spicy Queso variation, the brand’s first new flavor innovation in nearly a decade, per a Mondelez International announcement. The new release combines “rich, creamy cheese flavor with a bold, spicy kick.” Ritz Bits Cracker Sandwiches Spicy Queso is now available in 3-ounce bags at convenience store locations, while 8.8-ounce boxes will be available at major food retailers beginning in February.

Previously: “Ritz brand promotes new Buttery-er Crackers with 24-karat gold stick of butter,” from the April 26 edition of this column.

More product launches:

• “Seth Rogen Launched a Flavored Sparkling Water — and You Can Probably Guess What’s in It” (Food & Wine)
• “Celestial Seasonings Tea Introduced its Holiday Teas for the Winter Season” (Trend Hunter)
• “Whipnotic unveils seasonal flavors: Peppermint Mocha and Apple Crisp” (Dairy Foods Magazine)
• “Lir unveils new Baileys cocktail-inspired chocolate” (FoodBev Media)
• “SkinnyDipped launches topless peanut butter cups” (Food Business News)
• “Mars transforms classic bars into chocolate milk offerings” (Confectionary Production)
• “Drinkable Mayonnaise Is Now a Thing” (Food & Wine)
• “V8 partners on Bloody Mary RTD beverage” (Food Dive)
• “Snak Club introduces Tajín seasoned chocolate confections” (Candy Industry)