Food Industry observers last fall confidently predicted the demise (or, at least, the fade-out) of the Pumpkin Spice craze. Some mourned the departure of what they considered a fall ‘tradition’. Others cheered it as the sunset of a fad that had been overdone to the max…
Yes, Cup Noodles brand really is planning to launch a limited-time Pumpkin Spice flavour
this fall. Let’s not make this the start of another Pumpkin Spice ‘everything’ fad..
For several years prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the craze for Pumpkin Spice (PS) ‘everything’ dominated fall taste trends. It got to the point that processors and manufacturers were experimenting with Pumpkin Spice in really extreme, totally nutty applications, just for the sake of getting on the bandwagon. Eater.com was inspired as early as 2017 to compile a list of ’65 PS products that have no business being PS’. I mean, there was even PS Kraft Dinner and PS SPAM! And food writers had a heyday calling out brands for loony ‘limited time’ product releases.
Then, during the first autumn of the pandemic, manufacturers, restaurateurs and influencers found more pressing – and reality based – issues to consume their attention, and the Pumpkin Spice thing fell off the consumer radar. Some food writers like me were glad to see the fad go away.
Back from the dead
Now, it appears that Pumpkin Spice is back, though with less force than it exerted before COVID. But the extreme applications appearing in the marketplace are just as nutty or more so than ever before.
Witness the announcement this past week by Cup Noodles brand that it is readying PS-flavoured Ramen noodle bowls for release in October. Not that October is too early for PS products (if we have to have them) to hit the shelves. But it’s simply crazy to start up the hype machine in early August!
What gave Cup Noodles the notion?
Cup Noodles says, in a news release, that it decided to do PS Ramen after a U.S.-wide survey revealed that more than half of Gen Z people asked wanted it:
“[M]ore than 50 percent of Gen Z respondents are obsessed with all things pumpkin spice. What’s more – 60 percent say that pumpkin spice is their fall jam, while an ultra-devoted 10 percent crave the flavor year-round.”
The brand indicates the product will not be soup-based; instead, it will be ‘saucy’. More like pasta with a Tomato or Alfredo Sauce in consistency, I imagine.
And the news release goes on to propose a totally over-the-top ‘serving suggestion’: “For the full pumpkin spice experience, top it with whipped cream for the quickest, tastiest and most outlandish pumpkin spice in-a-cup experience you never knew you needed!”
And that’s the point
PS Noodles IS an experience we don’t need.
Maybe we can stand a month or so of PS OREOS or Starbuck’s Lattés or Fast Food Shakes. But must we endure what is likely to be a blanket of commercials for PS Noodles? The truth is, the hype machine is starting up now for this ridiculous product because experts in the back room have calculated that it will take a couple of months to work up the consumer frenzy Cup Noodles is counting on to propel the product to retail success.
My take
I say, reserve PS for Pumpkin Pies, Spice Cookies, seasonal Hot Chocolate dusting and maybe a fall Ice Cream offering. The kind of clamor PS received in the pre-COVID years was patent overkill. As a result, PS was reduced to a laughing stock across the food processing, manufacturing and Fast Food sectors. Let’s not make the same mistake again. PS has had its run. It’s time to put the tired old nag out to pasture once and for all.
~ Maggie J.