A Bigger Pop   
 
Popcorn will be a bigger snack than ever in 2010, thanks to the addition of Pop Secret Jumbo Popping Corn Kernels to the Pop Secret line from San Francisco-based Diamond Foods, Inc. early this year. Marking the brand's first foray into the fast-growing popping corn kernel market, the item uses a 100 percent natural jumbo corn kernel that pops up bigger and fluffier than traditional corn kernels, enabling consumers to apply more customized flavor on each popped kernel for a more intense taste. A 30-ounce proprietary ergonomic package shaped like a corncob for easier handling during preparation will retail for a suggested $4.98. Additional information is available at www.diamond foods.com.


Good Things Come in Smaller Packages
    
Three of the most popular varieties of the Minute Maid Enhanced Juice and Juice Drink line are now available in chilled 12-fluid-ounce shrink-wrapped single-serve bottles. Aimed at health-conscious consumers, Pomegranate Blueberry Flavored 100% Juice Blend of 5 Juices, Pomegranate Lemonade and Strawberry Kiwi Flavored Juice Drink collectively offer such beneficial ingredients as omega-3/DHA, vitamins C and E, cholesterol-lowering plant sterols, and yerba mate extract. Encompassing more than 100 beverage flavors and varieties, Minute Maid is a brand of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co., which notes that the launch of the single-serve bottles is being supported with a fully integrated marketing program including in-store and out-of-store trial and awareness tactics. Although price may vary by region and retailer, $1.69 to $1.79 is the suggested range. Visit www.minutemaid.com to learn more.


Chocolate Meets Coffee   

This spring, two gourmet treats converge in Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Flavored Coffees. The result of an agreement brokered by IMC Licensing of Louisville, Ky., between Long Island City, N.Y.-based White Coffee, a third-generation family-owned coffee roaster, and Durango, Colo.-based Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc., an international franchisor, confectionery manufacturer and retail operator that operates the largest chain of retail chocolate stores in the United States, the line will consist of such popular Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory flavors as Dark Chocolate Truffle, English Toffee and Hazelnut Truffle Vanilla Caramel. A 12-ounce bag will retail for a suggested $8.99. To find out more, visit www.whitecoffee.com.


The FairWild Bunch   

Traditional Medicinals, the largest Fair Trade-certified herbal tea company in the United States, has now become the first U.S.-based manufacturer to obtain FairWild certification. This sustainability standard, established in 2006, sets international social, ecological and quality standards for wild-collected plant species. Following in the wake of "Just for Kids" Organic Cold Care and Organic Nighty Night — the first herbal tea products to carry FairWild labeling  — the Sebastopol, Calif.-based company is bowing two additional items featuring the designation: refreshing, slightly bitter Organic Nettle Leaf Tea, which is made from stinging nettle leaf traditionally harvested from natural wild populations  by local people mainly in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and Poland; and sweet Organic Licorice Root, which is wild-collected principally in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the western frontier regions of China. To learn more, visit www.TraditionalMedicinals.com or call 800-543-4372, ext. 6707.


Take Another Peep

For the first time ever, the iconic Peeps brand of marshmallow chicks will be available in a chocolate-covered version in time for Easter 2010. According to the beloved product line's manufacturer, Bethlehem, Pa.-based Just Born, Inc., the conveniently sized, 1-ounce single-serve item will be coated in creamy milk chocolate or rich dark chocolate, and will retail for under $1. Visit www.justborn.com to find out more.







Here's the Scoop
    
Blue Bunny from Le Mars, Iowa-based Wells’ Dairy, Inc. will shortly dish up All Natural Frozen Yogurt, a rich, creamy product containing live and active probiotic cultures. Due to arrive in stores in March, the yogurt will be packaged in 56-ounce containers retailing for a suggested $4.99 each. The line's indulgent varieties are Bordeaux Cherry Chocolate Chunk, Caramel Praline Crunch, Double Raspberry and Strawberry Banana, with all but the last also available in the venerable brand's 8-ounce Personals size, which retails for 99 cents each. For more information, visit www.wellsdairy.com.