Hello hello!
This week, we got a very interesting PR kit. A wooden crate with a metal pry bar, addressed to “Jenna and Nate’s Orchard” 👀.
Inside were some fun treats from a new candy brand called Refresh’d. They make freeze-dried fruits (grapes, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, and mango) that have been covered in a sugar and citric acid coating. Think Fruit Riot, but freeze-dried instead of frozen!
Each flavor came in its own little bag shaped like the fruit inside. CANDY SHOULD BE THIS FUN!! Check out our live review over on our instagram.
Something really interesting about this brand is that it fits into a new category we’re seeing form inside the broader new wave of candy, which is candy that is basically just fruit. There’s a shocking amount of date-based ones like Smood Sweets, Joolies, Super Loops, True Dates, and Daddl, just to name a few. Beyond dates, then there’s a few more fruit-forward ones like Fruit Riot and Final Boss Sour.
Part of what’s driving the new wave of candy is the idea that candy can be better for you and still actually taste good (see Harken and Happy Candy for example). This whole “just fruit” side of the trend is the most literal version of that, without just being fresh fruit. It lines up with where food in general has been heading, where many consumers want a shorter ingredient list of real, whole ingredients that doesn’t feel overly processed.
And with that, let’s get into our (individual) picks of the week →
Nate’s Pickup:
Paco Jones Mexican Ketchup and BBQ sauce
We might be out of grilling season here in the Northeast, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy some fries or a solid burger. And honestly, I’ll never say no to a hot dog. Sue me! We first tried Paco Jones at the Fancy Food Show in NYC this summer, where they made my list of top picks from the show, and now they’re making my top picks of the week. Hell, I’d even put these on my list of all-time favorite CPG products. Yes, they’re seriously that good.
I know, I know, there are a lot of sauces out there. There are countless regular ketchups on the market alone, but these bring a certain je ne sais quoi that’s hard to explain, so let me do my best. A lot of it comes down to how well they fit into this new wave of interesting fusions, where brands either pair a specific cuisine or flavor with something familiar or, in this case, take the familiar and give it a little twist.
Quick Facts: Paco Jones is a new condiment brand that reworks two American staples with Mexican ingredients. It launched with two sauces, a Tomato Chipotle Mexican Ketchup made with chipotle in adobo and jalapeño, and a Strawberry Fresno Mexican Barbecue Sauce that swaps tomato paste for strawberries and adds Fresno and pequin chiles. Both are sweetened with agave.
Reasons to love:
A twist on two classics. Ketchup and barbecue sauce are two condiments whose taste and texture you can probably picture in your head right now. They’re classics for a reason. Paco Jones takes those and reframes them with bold Mexican flavors I didn’t even know I wanted in these sauces. The barbecue sauce was particularly intriguing to me because in lieu of tomato paste it uses sweet strawberries (!!!) and red chiles for a sweet, spicy, tangy sauce you’ll want to put on simply everything. Who would have thought of that?! It’s so good! The ketchup is a bit more classic, still made with tomatoes, but it’s more savory and made with smoky chipotle and some jalapeño for added heat. It’s a much warmer-feeling sauce than your traditional Heinz with so much more depth to it, and I’m SO happy they did what they did. And this unique angle on the product really fits into something I think helps new CPG brands win, and that is when you’re slightly novel but mostly familiar. Consumers get sacred of true newness a lot of the time.
Not too sweet, not too spicy. I’ll preface this thought by saying I’m very comfortable with spice, so these might run a little hot for someone who can’t handle it. For me though, they land perfectly in the sweet spot between sweet and spicy. I’d also add tangy in there too! It’s a middle ground that works so well across all the major food groups, by which I of course mean chicken wings, hot dogs, onion rings, french fries, and burgers. I’d also like to add chicken nuggets (Chick-fil-A nuggets) to this food pyramid because they were amazing with the BBQ sauce!
Where to buy: Pacojones.com or in select retailers nationwide
Jenna’s Pickup:
Made by Marge - S’mores Cookie Dough
Today’s pickup is going to be short and sweet, because this product speaks for itself. Made by Marge makes frozen cookie dough that can go straight from freezer to oven, and it bakes out perfectly every single time. It’s simply a damn good cookie, no functions or benefits to speak of (besides… pure joy?), and a brand that every partygoer or host should have stocked in their freezer this holiday season.
Quick Facts: Ready-to-bake cookie dough handmade by the lovely Marge in Dallas. Marge uses the same from-scratch recipe—including real butter, cane sugar, organic flour, all the good stuff—that she’d shared with family and friends in college, now packaged for anyone to enjoy at home.
Reasons to love:
Bakery-quality, homemade taste. These are easily up there with the best cookies I’ve ever had, including the $8-but-swear-it’s-worth-the-line varieties from the buzziest NYC bakeries. They bake to perfection, with a slightly crispy-chewy bottom and soft, gooey center. I love the OG Chocolate Chip, but the S’mores is something really special—it includes vegan marshmallows that caramelize to perfection and cinnamon graham crackers that offer a lovely crunch and delicate spice.
For solo or sharing moments. Each bag comes with 12 (hefty) cookie dough balls, so you can make a full batch or bake a single-serve on a night when you need a little treat.
Guest gift hack. I recently brought these to a friend’s house (to watch Love is Blind, of course), and it was one of the the best guest gifts I’ve ever bestowed. You could bring the cookies pre-baked and win over any group or party, but it was equally delightful to bake the cookies at the destination—the gift of both an intoxicating, house-filling scent and the resulting treat. All of my friends agreed—this is an absurdly delicious cookie that you would never know came from the freezer. It’s the ultimate hack to be the most memorable guest or host this holiday season.
Where to buy: Online or in Pop Up Grocer (NYC), Foxtrot locations, or a few Texas retailers.
In case you missed it… 🎧
And in case you missed it, this week on our podcast we tackled a big question: when did “acquisition” become such a dirty word in CPG?
When an emerging brand gets acquired by a bigger company, the public reaction isn’t always positive. But is it actually a bad thing? We dug into some recent acquisitions, explore how some consumer rhetoric might not actually match what’s really happening, and talk through when an acquisition might (or might not) be something to worry about.
Catch the full episode below 👇