Kraft Mac & Cheese is a truly iconic family feeder. And it’s thrived over many de-cades without major changes to the recipe. But now, KMC marks a watershed moment – with two new flavours! The move comes only after extensive research and development…
Taking the Flavour Boost directly to the box!
Perhaps overly wary of ‘fiddling with perfection’ or ‘tampering with a legend’, Kraft had heretofore resisted the temptation to expand into ‘flavours’ territory. But it appears the success of its Flavour Boost seasonings emboldened the brand…
Some history…
“For over 85 years Kraft Mac & Cheese (KMC) has been serving up comfort and smiles one bowl at a time,” The brand’s official website declares. “We know that comfort makes us feel good, and it’s our mission to bring those good vibes to people of all ages.”
And bring them, it does. Kraft reports that more than a million boxes are sold every day.
Over many decades, the only concession Kraft had made to the legendary product was to rebrand it – albeit slightly – to ‘Kraft Dinner’, for the Canadian market. And add a White Cheddar version.
Over the years, dozens of copy-cat mac and cheeses have been marketed. But none has come close to challenging the original.
Winds of change
Then, in 2022, all pasta broke loose. Kraft unveiled a new, slightly tweaked logo and name. Kraft ‘Mac and Cheese’ became Kraft ‘Mac & Cheese’. The brand offered two modestly modified new versions: one with a thick and creamy sauce, and another with ‘spiral’ pasta instead of the usual macaroni.
And soon after, the brand introduced what it called ‘Flavour Boost’ seasonings designed to jazz up your bowl with your choice of Pizza, Ranch and Buffalo spice dust-ons.
Now, Kraft is joining the biggest food trend of the new millennium. It’s cautiously dipping a toe in the ‘flavours’ ocean with two new products: Jalapeño and Ranch flavoured KMC.
Only after intensive trials…
The two new flavoured KMCs were released only after months of experimentation, taste testing and tweaking. Kraft reveals, it tested more than 40 new ‘concepts’ and 27 flavours before settling on two pretty safe bets. Kraft knew they were ‘safe’ because Japapeño and Ranch led all other suggestions in a recent online contest which challenged fans to submit their best ‘Mac Hacks’.
Other notable suggestions included Creamy Pesto, Sriracha, and Pickle.
My take
Ranch and ‘Spicy’ could confidently have been settled on as ‘sure things’, even without a contest. And I suspect we’ll see more new flavours of KMC in the future, if the initial experiment pays off with fan approval.
And considering the ‘abundance of caution’ with which Kraft has embarked on the ‘flavours’ trail, there’s no reason to think the move won’t be a roaring success.
~ Maggie J.