FoodStuff by Kevin Ryan
Who Will Benefit from RFK Jr? We Might Be Surprised
Here is what’s in today’s edition:
The Sensory Arms Race: Why Everything is Multi-Sensorial Now
Who Will Benefit From RFK Jr? We Might Be Surprised
The Quiet Rise of Gut Health: Why Olipop's Success Tells a Different Story
Extreme Safety: The Next Big Selling Point in Food?
Gut Reaction: My hot takes on new offerings
Tidbits: The latest in food industry news, from the profound to the funny
Kemps has introduced Kempswich Cores, a new line of ice cream sandwiches with a soft-baked cookie exterior and a flavored core. The line includes Caramel Snickerdoodle (snickerdoodle cookies with caramel filling) and Chocolate Fudge (chocolate cookies with a fudge center). Available in the frozen aisle.
Australian company Springhill Farm (makers of plant-based Slice snack bars) has partnered with lollipop brand Chupa Chups to launch a line of Chupa Chups-flavored ‘Slice balls.’ The balls are inspired by the lollipop brand’s signature fruit flavors (like Strawberry & Cream and Choco Banana) and combine a gooey center, cakey outer Slice layer, and chocolate shell that cracks when you bite into it. Available at Coles.
Duncan Hines has launched a PEEPS Yellow Cake Mix, bringing the signature marshmallow flavor of PEEPS to a boxed cake mix. The product is designed for at-home baking and meant to be garnished with PEEPS. Available exclusively at Walmart.
Betty Crocker has launched a new Soft Baked Cookie Mix line, featuring Chocolate Caramel, Red Velvet and Birthday Cake Batter varieties. The mixes are formulated to create cookies with a softer, bakery-style texture and topped with creamy frosting (**cough, cough, Crumbl, cough, cough**). Available at Walmart.
NotCo has introduced a limited-edition NotSquare Chocolate Bar, inspired by the TikTok sensation Dubai-style chocolate. The plant-based bar is made with NotCo’s dairy-free chocolate on the outside and a creamy crunchy pistachio filling on the inside. To play up the texture, the company is asking people to send in ASRM videos trying the product.
The Sensory Arms Race: Why Everything is Multi-Sensorial Now
We all know that food is no longer just about taste, it’s about experience. In a world where eating often begins with a phone screen, the most successful packaged foods aren’t just delicious; they deliver a cinematic performance. That’s why we’re seeing a surge in products that emphasize extreme textures, visual appeal, and dramatic layers.
The Social Media Effect: If It’s Not Cinematic, Is It Even a Snack?
The rise of TikTok and Instagram food culture has reshaped how brands approach product development. Viral desserts, think lava cakes, Crumbl-style cookies, and filled donuts aren’t just tasty, they’re a performance for the cameras and screens in our pockets. The moment of breaking into a gooey center or stretching a marshmallow-laced bite creates content that is as visually satisfying as it is delicious. Packaged food brands have taken note, designing products that replicate this experience at home.
Why Certain Sensory Attributes Resonate
Not all sensory attributes are equally effective. The most captivating food experiences are those that create a visible transformation, a melting core, a pull-apart texture, a glossy, drippy surface. Consumers are drawn to foods that suggest freshness, indulgence, and craftsmanship, even when they come from a box or freezer.
Softness + Structure = Ultimate Craveability – Consumers love the balance of a crisp shell and a yielding, gooey center because it mimics fresh bakery or restaurant desserts.
Stretch, Break, Drip – Foods that physically change when handled (like a molten cake breaking open) add an immediacy to eating.
Contrast Makes It More Indulgent – The interplay of hot and cold, chewy and crispy, thick and airy makes food feel richer and more satisfying.
From Eating to Experiencing
The future of packaged treats won’t just be about better flavors, it will be about leveraging the ‘cinematic experiences’ we’ve all become accustom to online. Expect to see more brands embrace interactive textures, layered contrasts, and even temperature play (think hot-meets-cold innovations). Social media isn’t inventing new sensory cravings, but it is normalizing their amplification. The most successful products will be those that tap into what consumers have always loved about indulgence, but now with social media exaggeration.
Who Will Benefit From RFK Jr?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services has sent shockwaves through the food industry. His outspoken criticism of ultra-processed foods, seed oils, and additives signals a major regulatory shift. On the surface, these changes might seem like a win for health and wellness consumers and a blow to large food corporations. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that regulatory shifts often have unintended consequences. In this case, RFK Jr.’s policies may end up benefiting the very companies he seeks to challenge, while squeezing out small and mid-sized food businesses in the process.
The GDPR Parallel: When Regulation Strengthens the Biggest Players
A useful comparison comes from the tech world. When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was introduced in the European Union in 2017, it was meant to curb Big Tech’s unchecked data collection practices (never heard of GDPR? you probably know it as those annoying transparency banners and cookie notices on websites). However, compliance costs for companies to implement GDPR skyrocketed, favoring well-funded giants like Google and Facebook, while smaller firms and startups struggled to keep up. The result? The tech behemoths gained even more dominance.
The food industry could see a similar pattern unfold under RFK Jr.’s watch. While his push for cleaner food might seem, to some, like a triumph for public health, the reality is that large corporations are best positioned to adapt to new regulations. They have the legal teams, supply chain flexibility, and capital to reformulate products and meet new standards. Small producers, on the other hand, could face regulatory compliance costs that push them out of the market.
Who Can Afford Reformulations?
If Kennedy enacts sweeping bans on food additives, tightens nutritional labeling requirements, or takes a DOGE-like approach to food policies, companies will have to reformulate their products, perhaps quickly and repeatedly. Large food companies have massive R&D departments, dedicated food scientists, and the financial cushion to experiment with new recipes. They can test and scale new formulations across national distribution networks without breaking a sweat.
For small food businesses, however, reformulation can be a death sentence. A family-run bakery or an upstart snack brand might not have the resources to test and refine new recipes that comply with evolving regulations. These businesses could be forced to pull products from shelves or reformulate hastily, resulting in quality issues or lost customer trust.
The Compliance Trap
Beyond reformulation, regulatory compliance itself can be a burden. Navigating new food safety certifications, labeling mandates, and ingredient sourcing requirements means hiring consultants, upgrading production facilities, and managing new documentation processes. Once again, large corporations can handle this in stride, while smaller companies struggle with red tape.
The Bigger Picture: Who Will Really Win?
It’s still too early to tell who the real winners and losers will be under RFK Jr.’s policies. While large food corporations are well-positioned to weather these regulatory shifts, unintended consequences could shake up the industry in unexpected ways. Additionally, many of these big companies aren’t exactly in peak health at the moment. Recent numbers show that inflation and the rise of private-label brands have taken a toll on heritage CPG, with recently declining sales and divestitures. While big corporations may still have the upper hand compared to smaller players, navigating these new regulations may be the last straw for some of these companies. Until all the policies are finalized and put into practice, I wouldn’t bet on the early favorites to be the ultimate winners.
Kri Kri High Protein Ice Cream has been launched in the UK as an ALDI exclusive. The ice creams come in two flavors including Chocolate Hype and Peanut Butter Load, both contain 24g of protein, 0% added sugar and are high in fiber.
Lexington Bakes is launching a Chilled Oat Bar they are calling ‘oatmeal on the go.’ The bars will come in two flavors, Maple Brown Butter and Raspberry Crumble. The brand says the bars are 100% organic, naturally gluten-free, and have no artificial ingredients. Each bar also has 4 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber and 9 grams of sugar. Available for pre-order.
Texas iced tea franchise HTeaO has partnered with Texas-based prebiotic soda brand poppi to create a new line of HTeaO + poppi combination drinks paired with fresh fruits (like Peachy poppi, a blend of Strawberry Lemon poppi, peaches, ginger, and HTeaO’s Sweet Georgia Peach Tea). Available for a limited time.
Ele Chocolates has launched a line of Probiotic Chocolate Bites. The product contains the company’s fair-trade chocolate and combines it with coconut oil and probiotic cultures. Available via the brand’s website.
The Quiet Rise of Gut Health: Why Olipop's Success Tells a Different Story
Olipop, the prebiotic soda brand, just hit a staggering $1.85 billion valuation. This might seem surprising to those who remember the early 2010s gut health boom, when kombucha, probiotic yogurts, and fermented foods flooded shelves, only for the movement to seemingly stall out. Yet here we are in 2025, and a "gut-friendly" soda is one of the biggest success stories in CPG. What happened? Why did gut health, after its first faltering steps, finally catch fire?
The First Wave: Too Earnest, Too Complicated
A decade ago, gut health had a strong but niche following. The movement was driven by functional health advocates, fermented food enthusiasts, and a smattering of wellness influencers. The problem? Most of the early gut health products were unapproachable for the average consumer. Early kombucha was fizzy mushroom water, kimchi and sauerkraut required an adventurous palate, and probiotic supplements felt like medicine. While these products had strong, science-backed benefits, they lacked one key thing: fun.
Gut health wasn’t failing because consumers weren’t interested, it was failing because the products felt too serious, too medicinal, and too complicated. People didn’t want to study the microbiome before making a purchase. They wanted something familiar, easy to understand, and enjoyable to drink or eat.
The Olipop Effect: Gut Health Disguised as Indulgence
Olipop’s success can be attributed to something deeply psychological: the power of reframing. Instead of positioning itself as a probiotic supplement or a health drink, Olipop presents itself as a way to love soda again. This isn’t just about taste. It’s about permission. Consumers want to make better choices, but they don’t want to feel deprived. A product that says, “You can have soda and feel good about it” is far more appealing than a product that says, “You need to change your diet and drink this fermented tea instead.”
Olipop’s branding is also bright, cheerful, and fun, far from the clinical look of many early gut health products. The brand is selling enjoyment first, health second. And in a world where wellness trends are increasingly blending with pleasure (see: the rise of functional chocolate and protein-packed ice cream), this strategy is proving to be incredibly effective.
What’s Next? The Future of Gut Health
If Olipop’s success tells us anything, it’s that the future of gut health won’t be found in highly niche wellness circles, it will be in mass-market indulgence. Expect to see more gut-friendly versions of mainstream products: prebiotic candy bars, probiotic snack chips, and fiber-rich desserts. We may even see fast food chains quietly integrating gut health benefits into their menu items, much like they did with plant-based options.
Another interesting shift? The potential for gut health to integrate with the mental wellness movement. The gut-brain connection is becoming a bigger topic, with emerging research showing how gut health impacts mood, stress, and even cognitive function. The next wave of gut health products may not just promise a happy stomach but a happier mind as well.
Extreme Safety: The Next Big Selling Point in Food?
Little Bellies, a baby food brand, is taking a new step in food safety transparency by providing parents with access to heavy metal testing results for their products. In a bold move toward consumer trust, the company has announced new efforts to make contamination testing more accessible, ensuring their products meet safety standards. Their initiative underscores a growing shift in the food industry, one where safety isn’t just expected, but actively marketed.
Food safety has always been an expectation, not a marketing point. But that may be changing. With high-profile recalls dominating headlines (from lead in applesauce to listeria in packaged salads) consumers are more concerned than ever about hidden risks in their food. Heavy metals, microplastics, pathogens…these once-rare topics are now mainstream worries.
While baby food brands have led the charge in explicitly labeling for safety, we’re likely to see this trend spread. If we continue to see US federal government cuts in offices like the USDA or FDA, I expect to see more companies across all categories touting their rigorous testing, traceability, and contaminant-free claims as competitive advantages. In other words, as the government because more laissez faire, or just less able, brands will need to step up and loudly proclaim their actions. In an era where transparency reigns supreme, extreme safety might become a key differentiator.
The rise of safety as a benefit signals a broader shift in consumer priorities. While taste, convenience, and health remain of primary importance, trust is showing itself to be a major deciding factor in purchasing decisions. The brands that can provide not just food, but reassurance, may find themselves winning in an increasingly risk-conscious market.
NEW PRODUCT GUT REACTION
TIDBITS
Food Industry
NPR shopped for 96 items at Walmart to track how prices are really changing
Costco is switching to Coke products in its food courts
America’s $3 Billion Habit: Meat Sticks
Popeye’s and Don Julio team up
Starbuck’s cutting 30% of their menu
How food companies plan to make a fortune on weight-loss drugs
Diageo NA is expanding with a $415m plant in Alabama
Chick-fil-A’s solution to making their drive-thrus more efficient: drones
Shamrock Shakes return to McD’s via Grimace’s long-lost Irish Uncle
Waffle House to tack on $0.50 surcharge on eggs due to bird flu (but not Cracker Barrel)
Prescriptions for weight loss drugs are skyrocketing, especially among young women
CEO of Anheuser-Busch wants to change the word ‘domestic’ beer to ‘American’ beer
The class wars come for condiments
Coca-Cola considers a return to plastic bottles amid rising costs
Dave's Hot Chicken reportedly seeks a buyer
Consumers are going for Happy Meals to beat higher prices
How the cereal aisle got swole, why General Mills is ‘pumping up’ their cereals with protein
New technology could make fridges cheaper and more eco-friendly
Chewy takes top spot in customer online shopping satisfaction poll
Interesting
Is iodine deficiency making a comeback in the US?
Mom's Microbiome shapes a baby's long-term health
India has a complex, three-tier tax structure…for popcorn?
An academic paper discussing the ‘perfect’ cacio de pepe’ sauce construction
Daily omega-3 fatty acids may help human organs stay young
How to avoid norovirus—the ‘stomach flu’ bug, that is seemingly everywhere right now
How young entrepreneurs are reinventing cheese
An artist is taking the leftover bones at a restaurant and turning them into plates and cups
The source of the Irish potato famine pathogen is finally identified
South Korean airport officials confiscated almost 11 tons of kimchi last year
Eating from plastic takeout containers can increase heart failure risk
Fun & Odd
Man makes fireproof shoes out of pineapples
America's most popular pizza toppings
Is your pan of lasagna a battery!?
Seafood firm offers bounty to catch 27,000 salmon that escaped off Norway
The New York Times discovers the Midwest pastime of meat raffles
A humpback whale (briefly) swallows kayaker in Chilean Patagonia