Business
10 Pringles Flavors That No One Ever Talks About (Part 2)
Who doesn’t enjoy a tube of the saddle-shaped Pringles potato chips? While sour cream and onion, original salted, cheddar cheese, barbecue, etc. are familiar flavors, there is a whole universe of other Pringles flavors that no one ever talks about. Check out some of these unique Pringles flavors below.
10. Smoked Salami
Unarguably one of the most popular brands of potato chips in the world, Pringles are enjoyed by one and all. The shape and taste of Pringles in just as unique as the packaging that it comes in. Pringles are about 42% potato and the rest is various starches, flours, oils and seasoning. Their specially designed saddle shape is also ingenious and invented by a chemist to address customer complaints about broken, smelly and greasy-tasting potato chips. To ensure that the potato chips retain their saddle shape and do not get broken in transportation, a special tubular case was designed to pack the Pringles potato chips. Thus, the iconic packaging, chip shape and brand were born. Americans are very familiar with typical Pringles flavors like barbecue, cheddar cheese, salted, etc. But there is a whole another world of Pringles flavors in the rest of the world (mostly in Japan) that we don’t know about. And one such unusual flavor is the Pringles Smoked Salami. Though salami is an Italian delicacy, Pringles Smoked Salami was most likely invented for the Japanese market and advertised as an ‘Autumn Selection’ product. For the uninitiated, salami is a traditional Italian meat item meaning ‘all kinds of salted meats’. It looks like an elongated meat mixture encased in a thin casing that has been dried for a long period of time. It has a marbled appearance when thinly sliced and traditionally made from pork or beef. Smoked Salami is a specialty of the Piedmont region of Italy, where the salted and spiced meat mixture is smoked before curing to give it a smoky flavor. Now imagine this delectable flavor of Smoked Salami on a Pringles potato chip; divine! Like it or not, Pringles Smoked Salami is definitely one of the most unusual flavors that Pringles ever made!
9. Beef Kebab
Is there anything more addictive than a tube of Pringles? Eating just one Pringles potato chip will not be enough; we guarantee you won’t be able to stop until finish up the whole tube! Unlike most other potato chip brands, a lot of thought, effort and planning has gone into creating the perfect shape and taste of Pringles. They have just the right amount of crunch, the perfect quantity of seasoning and the most delicious taste ever! And what makes Pringles so tasty is their almost unending variety of flavors. Over the years, Pringles has come up with bizarre flavors, and most of these are in overseas markets. Japan is the country responsible for the most unique Pringles flavors, including the Pringles Beef Kebab flavor. Sold almost exclusively in Japan, Pringles Beef Kebab is the same Pringles potato chip with the yummy beef kebab flavored seasoning. Reminiscent of the taste of succulent beef and savory spices coating it; the Pringles Beef Kebab flavor is very much like the original beef kebab, just in a potato chip form. Beef kebabs have been made all over Asia and the Arabian Peninsula for ages immemorial, and now these are the most popular items on any barbecue party menu. Juicy ground beef skewers marinated in exotic spices like coriander, cumin, garlic, paprika, etc. make beef kebabs popular all across the world. Combine this flavor with the crunch of Pringles potato chips, and you have a dynamite delicacy on your hands! Though some might deem this flavor to be physically impossible to create, Pringles has definitely managed to nail this flavor down!
8. White Chocolate Peppermint
The bizarre world of Pringles flavors gets even more bizarre when they release limited-time-only or seasonal flavors. Known for releasing outrageous flavors around the holidays, in 2012, Pringles announced that they would be introducing White Chocolate Peppermint flavored Pringles during the holiday season. Pringles fans went wild with anticipation. Pringles were until then only associated with savory flavors and many were not convinced that a sweet flavor of Pringles would be palatable. But the promised Pringles White Chocolate Peppermint flavor rolled around just before the holiday season of 2012, and opinion was quickly divided about the taste of this new Pringles flavor. Pringles White Chocolate Peppermint is a blend of rich white chocolate with a tongue-tingling peppermint taste that comes together in a rich holiday flavor. This unique variation of the classic Pringles has a noticeably prominent cool peppermint taste and a subtle hint of white chocolate that goes well with the salty potato chip. There is no noticeable smell or unusual flavor coating when you open the pack, but one bite and your taste buds come alive to the various flavors of Pringles White Chocolate Peppermint. While some claim that this Pringles flavor has a strong toothpaste-like taste, many have embraced the balance of sweet-and-salty taste of this Pringles flavor. Whatever your take on Pringles White Chocolate Peppermint, this is surely one of hard-to-beat Pringles flavor, and we bet you to try and eat just one!
7. Zesty Southwest Cheese
The stackable potato chips, Pringles, are an addictive snack and were originally called ‘Pringle’s Newfangled Potato Chips’ when they were first introduced in 1967. Thankfully, the named was amended to just ‘Pringles’ and there has been no looking back for the brand since then. Sold in more than 140 countries the world over, Pringles are one of the most popular snacks across the globe. And part of what makes them so well loved everywhere are their astounding variety of flavors. In the vast flavor library of Pringles, cheese flavors are the most recurring ones. Various types of cheese-flavored Pringles have been released over the years like, Chipotle Cheddar, Chile Con Queso, Cheddar Cheese, etc. One such unusual cheesy Pringles flavor is the Zesty Southwest Cheese. Supposedly made with real Kraft brand cheese, Pringles Zesty Southwest Cheese has a delicious creamy taste of a sauce made from four kinds of cheese. As soon as you open the tube of Pringles, a mix of cheese, garlic and onion smell hits you. As for the taste, it’s a bit tangy, salty, cheesy and smoky. The tang comes from some sort of a ranch sauce-like flavor along with garlic and onion seasoning, smokiness, a hint of spicy chili and an overall nacho cheese flavor. The tube of Pringles Zesty Southwest Cheese showcases a hunk of cheese with horns made of red chilies and a cowboy hat thrown into the mix – definitely conjures up images of the zesty wild southwest! But most consumers have reported that there is hardly any noticeable difference between all the various cheese-flavored Pringles released over the years; they seem to taste the same, with a slight change in the quantities of an ingredient or two here and there.
6. French Onion Dip
Pringles are known for the very different saddle shape of their potato chips. But did you know that there is a mathematical name for the saddle shape? The shape is mathematically referred to as a ‘hyperbolic paraboloid.’ The design of the chips was created by supercomputers to ensure that they could be stacked one on top of the other and would not budge in their packaging during transportation. While most people may not be familiar with such interesting facts about Pringles, what everybody surely knows is that the people at Pringles are a creative bunch. They come up with very innovative flavors, one of them being the French Onion Dip flavored Pringles. French onion dip is not French at all. It was in fact created in Los Angeles, USA, in 1954 and is also known as California dip. It is generally a dip made from sour cream or mayonnaise that is flavored with finely chopped onion or caramelized onions. This dip goes perfectly well with potato chips but Pringles decided to save you the trouble of preparing the dip and serving it with potato chips, and came up with the Pringles French Onion Dip flavor! When you first pop a Pringles French Onion Dip potato chip in your mouth, you might be reminded of the Pringles Sour Cream & Onion flavor, but rest assured, that is not the case. The base flavor might be the same, but there is a pronounced sweetness in the Pringles French Onion Dip flavor that makes it stand out from its peer. The people at Pringles are aware of the similarities in taste and have marketed the new flavor by asking the consumers to do a side-by-side comparison of both the flavors. Even if you are not convinced with the flavor of Pringles French Onion Dip, the tube of the potato chips might entertain you; it has a cartoon sketch of two potato chips sharing a bowl of dip supposedly at a café in Paris!
5. Blueberry and Hazelnut
When first introduced in 1967, Pringles was a P&G brand. It was successfully sold by P&G both nationally and internationally until it was sold to Kellogg’s in 2012. After taking over the reins, Kellogg’s has continued the tradition of inventing new and crazy flavors of Pringles that fans either love to eat or love to hate! Either way, Pringles continues to be popular in the minds of consumers. In the 2010s, the flavor-makers at Pringles decided to launch a ‘Fruit & Nut’ series of flavors that aimed at combining the varied tastes of nuts and fruits with that of potato chips! If you thought that this was a weird concept, wait till you hear the flavor that they launched in Asia – Pringles Blueberry and Hazelnut! Launched in the early 2010s, this flavor was a limited-time-only flavor and was huge in Thailand. As the name suggests, Pringles Blueberry and Hazelnut is a blend of the sweet and sour tastes of blueberries and hazelnuts combined with the salty taste of potato chips. While you try to assimilate this flavor profile in your head, let us describe the tube that it comes packaged in – it’s a bright sky blue color tube with blueberry and hazelnut balloons and a purple cloud on the cover. There is a strong fruit-and-nut smell to the chips along with a sugary, salty and artificial blueberry flavoring. For some, this might be just a bit too much to cope with. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Pringles Blueberry and Hazelnut surely are not everybody’s cup of tea!
4. Mighty Margherita Pizza
Most Pringles chips are made from a 42% potato base, they have also introduced several other varieties like multi-grain or tortilla chips. And one such offbeat Pringles chip type is their grain and vegetable blend of chips, and Pringles Mighty Margherita Pizza is a unique flavor that is added to these types of offbeat Pringles chips. Though Pringles already has the regular Pizza flavor in its repertoire, the Mighty Margherita Pizza flavor is a little different from it. Pringles Mighty Margherita Pizza has all the classic pizza flavors like tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and fragrant basil but with the added crispiness of grain and vegetable-based chips. Pringles Mighty Margherita Pizza can be described as an artisanal pizza flavor with garlic, onion and tomato tastes elevated to the artisanal level, with notes of herbs too. Cheese is another prominent flavor in these Pringles, and gives them that irresistible taste-kick that will have you reaching for more and more chips, just like pizza slices! Combining two American favorites – potato chips and pizza – Pringles Mighty Margherita Pizza is undoubtedly a super hit flavor!
3. Bruschetta
Pringles is a weird name for a potato chip brand, but there are many theories about the origin of this name. One story states that the chips were named after the street ‘Pringle Drive’ where two employees from the advertising department of P&G lived. Another story suggests that the name was randomly chosen by P&G from a telephone book. And a third story mentions that they were named after a person called Mark Pringle whose name appears on the patent application filed for the apparatus used in creating Pringles potato chips. While nobody is quite sure about the exact origins of the name ‘Pringles’, everybody quite agrees that these potato chips are awesome! And one of the flavors of this awesome potato chip brand is Pringles Bruschetta. Another Italian flavor in the Pringles arsenal of strange flavors, Pringles Bruschetta seems to have been invented not for the Italian market or even the American market; it seems to be specifically created for the Japanese market! Unlike regular Pringles, Pringles Bruschetta are noticeably orange in color and have a definite fresh tomato taste. There is also a taste of mixed Italian herbs which when combined with a tangy tomato and salty potato chip taste makes for an explosive flavor combination!
2. Thai Green Curry
With an undeniably exotic flavor of lemongrass, ginger, garlic, Thai basil, shallots, chilies, cilantro, and coconut milk, Thai green curry is a staple ingredient in Thai cuisine. Made from fresh ingredients, this bright green curry is suitable for vegetarians and is best served with a bowl of rice. But how about combining the exotic taste of Thai green curry with that of potato chips? That is exactly what Pringles has achieved with their unbelievable Pringles Thai Green Curry flavor! Part of the ‘Street Food Edition’ series of Pringles, Pringles Thai Green Curry flavored potato chips were most probably invented for the European markets. And they were reportedly well-received all over Europe, including France, UK, Germany, Belgium, etc. The immediately noticeable taste of Pringles Thai Green Curry flavor potato chips is that of pepper and onion with a hint of coconut milk. But there is no other detectable spice taste. All-in-all, the Pringles Thai Green Curry flavor is surely an unusual Pringles flavor!
1. German Sausage
Another funky sounding Pringles flavor, Pringles German Sausage is right there at the top of the list of the most bizarre Pringles flavors; more so because it was reportedly created for the Japanese market. Labeled as ‘German Selection’ at the top of the tube, Pringles German Sausage features the graphic of a sausage, (possibly bratwurst) split into two and layered on potato chips. These Pringles do not seem to have any significant difference in coloring or texture of the chips, but there is a definite difference in flavor. Similar to the other sausage flavored Pringles, Pringles German Sausage is actually catered more towards the Japanese palate and the flavoring may not be an accurate representation of the German sausage taste. Since the flavor is an interpretation of the actual German sausage flavor, Pringles has probably wisely not introduced the Pringles German Sausage flavored potato chips in Germany.