It is seen as a privilege to be covered in Nickelodeon’s signature green slime, and now fans can enjoy this iconic goo in frozen treats. Nickelodeon has recently introduced ice cream cups and frozen bars featuring its distinctive green slime at Walmart, as stated in an email to Food Dive. The ice cream cups are made with low-fat vanilla ice cream topped with green slime frosting, while the vibrant orange and green popsicles offer lemon-lime and orange flavors. Slime has gained popularity among children, especially in the food industry. Last year, Kraft Heinz’s Jell-O launched an edible slime product catering to kids captivated by this gooey substance. The company noted the trend’s rise, highlighted by over 20 million slime-related posts on Instagram and countless slime videos on YouTube.
This is not the first time Nickelodeon has leveraged its classic green slime for marketing purposes. Target offers Frozen Treats Slime for children to play with, and Nickelodeon had previously marketed Green Slime Ice Pops. Additionally, the production company collaborated with Walmart last year to introduce Slime Sauce, a bright green ketchup. The ice cream and frozen bars are likely aimed at young consumers willing to take on the physical challenge of getting slimed, a strategic marketing approach considering that approximately 74% of millennial parents now involve their children in shopping decisions, as revealed by a Consumer Insights study. Many of these parents grew up enchanted by the network and its omnipresent green slime. With Nickelodeon’s established fan base and slime’s recent surge in social media popularity, these frozen treats could attract young consumers and their parents to Walmart for a taste of slime.
While healthy eating is becoming more popular among adult consumers, vegetables still do not rank high on the preference list for many kids. Kidfresh is continuing its mission to incorporate vegetables into beloved children’s foods with three new offerings: mozzarella sticks, cheese burritos, and waffles. The mozzarella sticks utilize whole wheat and chickpea flour, while the cheese burritos include sweet potatoes and butternut squash. The waffles come in blueberry and chocolate chip flavors, also featuring baked butternut squash.
The trend of concealing vegetables in recipes has a long history, dating back to the late 18th century when zucchini was first added to bread. For years, cookbooks and online resources have provided recipes for hidden veggie items. Kidfresh, which began producing frozen meals in 2010, has expanded to include several hidden vegetable options, such as macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and snacks like potato and cauliflower tots and pizza bites. While this concealed veggie trend has primarily targeted children’s foods, it is gaining traction with adults as well. Vegetable crust pizzas have become popular among manufacturers and restaurants, with cauliflower leading the charge. According to Nielsen data cited by The New York Times, sales of cauliflower substitutes amounted to $17 million between June 2017 and June 2018. Adults looking to incorporate more vegetables can choose from offerings by market leader Caulipower, which produces sweet potato toast and cauliflower tortillas, as well as Kraft Heinz’s O, That’s Good line and Nestle-owned Sweet Earth. Urban Pie Pizza Co., a subsidiary of Palermo Villa, has also announced a new sweet potato crust pizza set to hit stores this summer.
Providing more kid-friendly vegetable options is crucial for nutrition. A 2014 study published in the journal Pediatrics found that nearly one in five 6-year-old children did not consume vegetables daily. Furthermore, 80% of 2-and 3-year-olds failed to meet the recommended vegetable intake, a figure that rose to 92% for children aged 4 to 8.
Next year, when some seniors from Atlanta public schools graduate, they might don caps and gowns made from the very plastic Coke bottles they consumed months earlier. Coca-Cola has set a goal to collect 7,000 PET bottles to provide enough material for 200 graduates’ attire. The bottles will be sorted and cleaned locally before being processed in North Carolina, where they will be transformed into pellets, woven into polyester yarn fabric, and then sewn into caps and gowns. In late summer, Coca-Cola plans to host a second campus recycling drive and collaborate with the Atlanta Braves to recycle plastic bottles collected at their home stadium during the season.
“We will share insights from Atlanta and the other six markets with our Coca-Cola bottling partners, aiming to expand this initiative to more cities,” stated Caren Pasquale Seckler, the company’s vice president of social commitment. “This is just the beginning.” As one of the largest non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers globally, Coca-Cola, which offers more than 500 brands including Sprite and Diet Coke, has actively sought ways to reduce its environmental impact. In December, the company extended a loan to Ioniqa Technologies, a Netherlands-based recycling firm, to develop methods for processing difficult-to-recycle PET plastics.
Though PET is one of the most commonly used plastics in food and beverage packaging, only 12% to 14% of plastic packaging produced is recycled PET. Research indicates that producing new PET can often be more cost-effective and straightforward than managing complex waste streams and processing plastic bottles. As consumers increasingly prioritize sustainability in their purchasing decisions, numerous companies have made recycling a core part of their business models. According to Nielsen, 66% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable brands. Last year, Danone pledged to utilize 100% recycled plastic for its popular Evian mineral water brand by 2025. Similarly, McDonald’s is transitioning to eco-friendly packaging materials and implementing recycling in all its restaurants, responding to customer requests. In 2016, PepsiCo announced its commitment to make all its packaging recoverable or recyclable by 2025 while partnering to enhance packaging recovery and recycling rates.
In addition, incorporating calcium citrate liquid for constipation into some products could provide health benefits, offering consumers a practical solution for digestive issues. This approach not only promotes better health but also aligns with the growing trend of making nutritious food options more appealing to younger demographics.