Snack Chat

Happy 120th Anniversary, Cracker Jack Snacks!

In 1893, F.W. Rueckheim introduced the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago's first world's fair, to a delicious blend of caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts that would become Cracker Jack snacks. Since that day 120 years ago, the snack has become a mainstay at baseball games, block parties and get-togethers with friends and family. It's become so popular, in fact, that if you stacked all the Cracker Jack product that has been sold end-to-end, it would circle the globe more than 63 times! 

Today, in celebration of its 120-year anniversary, I'm happy to share with you several exciting updates we've made at Frito-Lay to Cracker Jack snacks: 

• Two delicious new flavors of Cracker Jack snacks will start appearing in stores nationwide this spring -- Cracker Jack Kettle Corn popcorn and Cracker Jack Butter Toffee popcorn.
• The most popular snack packages, 4 and 8 oz., will include more crunchy delicious peanuts.
• We've modernized Cracker Jack snack prizes with new digital components, including classic stickers with fun facts and special codes that offer surprises online.
• A new Cracker Jack-branded mobile app, featuring two nostalgic games (Baseball and Pinball) available free for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch mobile devices and all Android devices at www.crackerjackapp.com.

And because of the snack's longtime association with baseball, the Cracker Jack brand is also participating in an online sweepstakes through the Louisville Slugger Facebook page where fans can enter to win exciting prizes, such as exclusive Cracker Jack-branded gear, customized Louisville Slugger items and even a chance to win enough products to meet every need for an entire baseball team. Cracker Jack snacks is also proud to partner with Macy's in a variety of activities, including a featured appearance in Macy's "American Icons" 2013 summer catalog, as well as several sampling events around the country. It's going to be a busy summer, so be sure to "like" the Cracker Jack brand on Facebook to  stay up to date with all the fun things we have planned! 

For now, check out this infographic to learn more about the iconic Cracker Jack snacks, and please join me in saying "Happy 120th Anniversary" to Cracker Jack snacks in the comments!

- Chad

SunChips Snacks And Susan G. Komen Team Up Again in 2013

Did you know an estimated 232,340 U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and nearly 40,000 will lose their battles with this disease? That number is shocking to me, but it also makes me proud to share that earlier this month, the SunChips brand and Susan G. Komen announced a renewed partnership to encourage women to take control of their health and an active role in breast cancer risk reduction. As part of this year's partnership, the SunChips brand will donate more than $200,000 to Komen to educate consumers through three key areas:

• New educational website – Through May 25, consumers can visit the new site to learn more about early detection. For each site visit, the SunChips brand will donate $1 to Komen, up to $50,000. The guaranteed minimum donation is $25,000. 
• Race sponsorships and on-site education - As a National Series Sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure series, the SunChips brand will sponsor 24 races across the country from May through October. Participants will have the opportunity to sample SunChips multigrain snacks and receive educational materials about early detection of breast cancer.
• Specially marked SunChips multigrain snack bags - During Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, consumers will be able to purchase specially marked bags of SunChips multigrain snacks featuring the Komen Running Ribbon and details about how to learn more about breast cancer. 

Specially marked bags of SunChips multigrain snacks featuring the pink Komen ribbon and in-store displays highlighting the SunChips-Komen partnership will be available in select retailers throughout the country. You'll start seeing the displays in stores near you now, and the special packaging will roll-out in the fall. For more information or to sign-up for a Race for the Cure event near you, please visit the Susan G. Komen website at komen.org.

- Kristin

Spending A Day in the Life of a Frito-Lay Sales Representative

There’s nothing better than walking into a store to see a freshly stocked display of Frito-Lay snacks. But then, as a Frito-Lay employee, I’m a little biased.

Did you know our snacks are delivered to stores and merchandised on shelves by our own employees? We use what’s called a direct-store-delivery system, which means that Frito-Lay employees -- Route Sales Representatives (or RSRs, as we call them) -- deliver our snacks directly to stores, merchandise them on shelves, sell-in point-of-sale materials, programs and space, and place orders to ultimately bring the Frito-Lay experience to life for shoppers. It's a great way to make sure our products are always fresh, organized and handled with care.  

I recently had a chance to ride along with one of our Dallas-area RSRs for the day, and let me tell you: These men and women work hard! Armed with a thermos full of the strongest coffee I could make, I arrived at one of our local distribution centers at 3:30 a.m. to meet the RSR I was paired with for the day. Within minutes, we were in our truck (that's it on the right) loaded with Frito-Lay snacks and on our way.

While it was hard work, the experience left me with a renewed appreciation for our 20,000 employees who are in the market every day making sure your favorite snacks are on the shelf and ready for you to shop. After all, you can’t really understand a person until you walk a mile in their shoes -- and judging by how sore my feet were at the end of the day, I think the work our RSRs do is quite amazing!

- Sara

Introducing New Cracker Jack'd Snacks -- The Snacks With Impact!

Earlier this year, we launched our new line of Cracker Jack'D snacks - a product line-up bursting with flavor and designed to tackle hunger in between meals. Yesterday, we officially introduced the "snacks with impact" to America with a unique sampling event in New York City. The event, hosted by actress Ashley Tisdale, gave fans the chance to experience the Cracker Jack'D firsthand at the "Cracker Jack'D Hotel and Casino" and try the brand's snacks, including:

• Hearty Mix: Tasty clusters mixed with nuts to give adult consumers a hearty, filling snack. Flavors include Cheddar BBQ, Zesty Queso, PB & Chocolate and Berry Yogurt.
• Intense Mix: Delicious snack mixes that have big, intense flavor and pack a powerful crunch. Flavors include: Buffalo Ranch and Spicy Pizzeria.
• Sweet 'n Savory Clusters: A Salted Caramel flavor that features rich sweet and salty popcorn and almond piece clusters.

Today's event was just the start of an action-packed 2013 for Cracker Jack'D! The brand also announced a partnership with hip-hop artists Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for giveaways and other events, a summer sampling tour in a custom Cracker Jack'D vehicle from West Coast Customs and another partnership with with Poptent to create some great online content to be shared through the remainder of the year.

Take a look below for photos from the event, and to check out the flavors of Cracker Jack'd Snacks available now. Let me know which flavor you plan to try first in the comments, and be sure to follow Cracker Jack'D on Facebook, Twitter and at www.CrackerJackD.com to keep up with the brand's latest news. 

- Joe

PepsiCo Gives Back with Feed the Children in 2013

As part of my job on the Frito-Lay Public Relations team, I have the privilege of helping plan and attending the community events we're partnering with Feed the Children to bring to life across the U.S. this year. We've been working with Feed the Children for a few years now and are proud to take our partnership to a new level in 2013.

This year, PepsiCo and Feed the Children will host distribution events to provide food and personal care items -- as well as a variety of PepsiCo snacks and beverages -- to families in need across 15 different cities. That's nearly double the number of cities we visited last year!

So far this year, we've been to New Orleans, Phoenix, Washington D.C., Miami, Buffalo and Dallas, which as you probably know, is home to Frito-Lay headquarters. A few things stand out to me when we travel around the country to each of these events, and I wanted to share three of them here with you:

• Our local Frito-Lay and PepsiCo teams (our Dallas/Fort Worth area teams are pictured above) lead the charge in each city, donating their time and logistical expertise to help execute each of the distribution events. In all of the cities we've been in, I have never heard even the slightest complaint from any of our volunteers. They are truly happy and humbled to serve their communities.
• We have the best retail partners. Our local teams often invite one or more of our retail partners in the community to join us for the distribution events. I especially love when they do because the retailers embrace the opportunity just as passionately as we do -- and are quick to offer additional food donations and volunteers as well.
• People are truly thankful and appreciative for what we're doing in their communities. I remember in Washington D.C. last fall, one women receiving assistance during the event made a point to make eye contact with and say thank you to every single PepsiCo and Walmart volunteer she passed. Sometimes, it's just the small things that touch you most.

As we move forward through the rest of the year, we'll be in cities from Los Angeles to Hartford, Conn., and many places in between. I look forward to having even more stories to share with you as we go. 

Cheers,

Kristin