Did you know the green Haribo bear is actually strawberry flavored? And the red one is raspberry? A little trick that is actually a treat. No wonder the green bear is my favorite. Another fun fact you may not know (nor really care about) is my obsession with Haribo. They are the superior gummy bear, and I hold that opinion with strong conviction. I will happily debate plenty of things. This is not one of them.
Being that today is Halloween, let’s talk about another trick in every parent playbook. The quiet whisper to your kid: “Make sure you grab me the mini Haribo bag.” Or, when you have a younger child, the “I’m just going to grab this for my baby” move, conveniently selecting the last full-size peanut butter cup for the person in the stroller who doesn’t have enough teeth to eat it. Parents, I know you’ve done it. And future parents rolling their eyes? Trust me, you will too. We spend years teaching our kids to share, and then one night a year you get to enforce the policy for your own benefit. That’s called a return on investment 😊
Speaking of Halloween candy, I read an article earlier this week about childhood snacks that don’t taste like they used to. This article evoked two things: first, a serious craving for Bagel Bites. Second, it sent me down a rabbit hole about whether Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups have changed. This got the attention of my social media algorithm which then click baited me into the Reese’s family drama. I’m not going to opine on that here, but you can google it or click here to read more about the Reese’s/Hershey drama. I lost a good portion of my day Thursday to snack nostalgia. Very productive. Very on brand.
Then came dinner Thursday evening. I had the pleasure of joining some of the amazing women leading all things Marketing for some of NYC’s best (and my favorite) restaurants. This dinner was the first of many and an exciting new community of new extended colleagues and now friends. Our first dinner was at Altamarea Group’s 53. (Thank you Kayla for hosting!!!) And if you are reading this and looking for your next NYC dinner reservation, look no further, 53 is incredible. (Ask for the yummy Tequila + Yuzu cocktail…. IYKYK). Anyway, my favorite bite of the night was the “cereal shrimp”. Perfectly cooked shrimp with this delicious cereal coating that had me immediately going back for more. To further paint a picture, this wasn’t a chef mashing up a box of Lucky Charms onto seafood and calling it innovation. The dish uses cereal and curry leaf, and another fun fact… cereal shrimp has its own childhood associations in Singapore. Which I love, because while it wasn’t a dish from my childhood, there was something about that familiar cereal crunch that made it feel homey. Different childhoods, different foods, same feeling.
Ok Julie, are we talking about Halloween or Shrimp? What’s your point?
Thanks for asking. I promise, there is a connection between my very important daytime candy research and my very delicious evening dinner. Food has this ability to bring you somewhere you weren’t expecting to go. You’re an adult, sitting at a beautiful restaurant, having an actual grown-up conversation, and one bite sends your brain straight to a kitchen table, an after-school snack, or a Halloween bag dumped across the living room floor. Meanwhile, you (and by you, I mean me…) can’t remember the password you reset yesterday. But the taste of your favorite childhood cereal? We definitely have unlimited storage for that.
But this isn’t something new. Restaurants have been tapping into this for years, and some of the most fun LTO’s start with something guests already know and love. Back in my “just restaurant Marketing days” I loved (and had a lot of fun) creating our Milkshake LTOs themed around.. you guessed it… cereal!
Here are some throwbacks from my camera vault:
You take something familiar, give people a new way to enjoy it, and adults have a very compelling reason to order a milkshake. Not that I believe anyone needs to defend a milkshake order 😊 There’s also something wonderfully efficient about a menu item that makes someone say, “Wait, I used to LOVE that,” before they’ve even tasted it. You already have their attention. Now you have to make it delicious.
You can see versions of this all over food service. Dairy Queen blends OREO cookies and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups into a Blizzard, bringing familiar candy and cookie brands into another treat. And New York’s Milk Bar teamed up with Taco Bell on Birthday Cake Churros in 2025, taking a flavor associated with childhood celebrations and putting it into a different format. These are different approaches, but I understand the appeal of both. A brand name or a familiar flavor gives you a pretty good idea of the experience you’re about to have. Then curiosity takes over. “I know I like those things separately… so what happens when you put them together?” An excellent question, and one I am generally willing to investigate.
For restaurant operators, that’s an interesting place to play. A familiar candy, cereal, or childhood dessert can give guests a reason to try something new without asking them to take a huge leap. Add “limited time” and now there’s a reason to make the trip sooner. But the restaurant still has to deliver. A recognizable logo might get me to order it once; a great dish is what gets me to bring someone back and say, “You have to try this.” The cereal shrimp at 53 worked because it was phenomenal. The nostalgia was a bonus that made me think about it long after dinner…. clearly, because here I am writing an entire article that started with a gummy bear and somehow landed on shrimp.
It also brings me back to what we’re exploring with Branded’s own The Foodfluencers series on The Hospitality Hangout: the people behind the foods, brands, and conversations that make us curious enough to take a (sound)bite and whose products are ending up on restaurant menus and inspiring LTOs. Check out our conversations with Nick Wiseman of Little Sesame, Jen Zesut from Goodles, Mike Kurtz from Mike’s Hot Honey, and Eric Skae of Carbone Fine Foods to name a few.
But I digress. Let’s wrap this up (pun intended) calling this what it is, a Halloween opportunity for hospitality. Give people a little surprise, but leave something familiar for them to hold on to. A childhood favorite in a new form, a treat! We spend a lot of time in this industry thinking about what comes next. But let’s not forget that a pretty good idea can also start with remembering what we couldn’t wait to eat back then (even if it tastes different now).
Tonight, I will be trick-or-treating with my kids. No, I won’t be dressed up as a gummy bear (you’ll have to follow me on Instagram for my real non-AI generated costume). And yes, both my kids know to grab me the Haribo and even better, the coveted Heath bars!!! And then next time you eat a green Haribo gummy bear and notice the strawberry flavor for the first time, you’re welcome.
