Gotta Get At This: Lay's Romania Crocant, Cheese & Basil, and Chorizo

Romania is also launching some tie-in bags for Soccer/Futbol season... The "Crocant" aka "Ruffles" chips got some UEFA Championship packaging and they also got 2 new flavors "Cheese & Basil" along with "Chorizo". As with Hungary, I couldn't find out if the 2 flavors will be permanent or limited edition... but I'm guessing they are permanent, because Romania usually labels limited editions. Either way, if you are cruising through Romania, give these a taste, and be sure to let us know what you think of them in the comments section below.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Hungary Chanterelles in Cream, Chorizo, and Salami Pizza

Hungary is busting out some Summer promotions in connection with Soccer/Futbol season...here are 3 new flavors (I'm not sure if they are going to be permanent or seasonal)
"Chanterelles in Cream", "Chorizo", and "Salami Pizza". All 3 look solid. Have you seen them around in Hungary? I don't even know where Hungary is on a map, but these flavors make me Hungary ;)

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Chile Apasionados Por Nuestro Sabores Corte American Empanada de Pino, Maxx Choripan, Mediterranea Queso de Cabra y Oliva

Lay's Chile is also feeling Passionate for their own flavors, and running the Apasionados Por Nuestro Sabores campaign that Peru is running.
Three flavors are up for vote: "Empanada de Pino" on a typical cut chip or "American Cut", "Choripan" on a MAXX ridged chip, and "Queso de Cabra y Oliva" on a Mediterranea style chip.
"Empanada de Pino" is an Empanada (like a Calzone) filled with a mixture of ground beef, onions, raisins, black olives, and hard boiled eggs. It is a typical Chilean filling for an empanada.
"Choripan" is a Chorizo sausage and Crusty Bread sandwich that is popular in Chile and other surrounding Countries.
"Queso de Cabra y Oliva" is "Goat Cheese and Olive" the flavor is probably accompanied by Olive Oil on the chip because it's the Mediterranea style chip. Otherwise the description is pretty straight forward. Goat Cheese and Olive are two BOLD flavors and probably taste awesome on a chip.

So, if you can get to Chile, or a friend can send you some, here are 3 awesome new limited edition flavors to chase down! Enjoy the hunt!

OK Here's Some Late News: Walkers UK Market Deli & Sensations Lime with Thai Spices

Walkers in the UK has also launched the Market Deli line I talked about the other day from Holland. They've got 3 of the same flavors "Balsamic Vinegar of Modena", "Flame Grilled Spanish Chorizo with Roasted Onion", and "Wiltshire Cured Ham, Mature Cheddar and Farmhouse Chutney". Plus 2 more flavors "Cornish Mature Cheddar" and "Anglesey Sea Salt". As I said before, the sophistication of the flavors makes these really exciting and unique in the world of Lay's.

Another differentiation between the UK range and Netherlands is the expansion into Pita Chips and Tortilla Chips. Even though I don't really mention these usually, I might as well cover the expanded range. The Pita Chips are available in "Roasted Garlic and Mediterranean Herbs"and "Sweet Roasted Red Pepper with English Tomato". The Tortilla Chips are flavored as "Roasted Red Chilli with Mediterranean Sundried Tomato" and "Anglesey Sea Salt with Cracked Black Pepper".

Real Talk: These are beautiful and I want them. That is all.

(Apparently this line came out first, and that's why it's a more comprehensive line than the Dutch one)

 Last little Bonus is that the Sensations line has added a new potato chip flavor in their "Gently Infused Lime with Thai Spices" flavor. Sounds literally perfect. Lime and spice go great together. The Sensations line has always been that more sophisticated line of Potato chip flavors from Lay's/ Walkers. And even with the new Market Deli collection, it still will be an elevated flavor experience from the run-of-the-mill chips. So this new flavor seems to just be a continuation of that experience.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Netherlands Winter Editions & Market Deli

 Netherlands always has the fun stuff! This Winter season they've released some limited Winter Edition flavors:"Cheese Fondue" & "Bratwurst". They've also released the Lay's Gourmet bag for a limited time (if you don't know, Gourmet is a popular permanent range in other Countries like Spain).
If you are popping into the Netherlands or can get these through a Dutch vendor. Pick these up while they are still in stock!

 

There is also a completely new range making it's way across Europe called "Market Deli - From the Makers of Lay's". Netherlands has launched the collection with 3 flavors: "Balsamic Vinegar from Modena", "Flame Grilled Spanish Chorizo with Roasted Onions", and "Wiltshire Cured Ham, Mature Cheddar, and Farmhouse Chutney". All 3 of these sound DELICIOUS! These are the kinds of flavor I would CHASE down eagerly. The packaging is hella cute and the flavors are a bit more sophisticated than the typical salted faire. Looks good to me Holland!

Contest: World Cup Round-Up - Colombia, Perú, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, Egypt, Arabia, & Chile... and a little Ranting!

Ima put this out there right now. Some of these companies should be ashamed by how bad their online presence is. ASHAMED. The World Cup has been over for like 3 months now, however, 6 of these countries started World Cup contests and just never revealed who the winners were on their shared website. Peru, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, and Honduras; they don't really have websites to begin with, but they launched a beautiful interactive site that was tracking the winners of each round of this contest. I kid you not, go on it right now, it's lovely but that damn site does not say who the winners are (www.copadesabores.com). Guatemala and Peru at least have functioning Facebook pages, and with a little digging I found that they did in fact announce winners on those pages (albeit the announcement was 1 picture hidden away on the timelines). This has actually happened before with Lay's Dominicana, they announced a previous contest online and then never announced the winner... check it out on Facebook, as that page is still showing off pictures from that unresolved contest. Whoever is handling South America's online marketing just needs to get it together... FOR REAL. Go look at how Margarita from Colombia handles their business. Flawlessly, they maintain a nice website, update their Facebook, and interact via Twitter and Instagram. I don't understand how it's that hard for the others to simply update a website that they've already had built.
 END OF RANT.

ok. So, let's talk about the contests that did have winners... and I apologize that it took SO long to share this info. I had really tried to be patient and 'round-up' all the winners in one post.

The only country from South America that actually announced their winner on their website was Colombia and their Margarita Chips. The winner was "Colombia Chorizo con Limon" (Chorizo and Lime). Voters chose to keep it Patriotic, and it's no surprise... Colombia had their most impressive World Cup EVER this year... plus the flavor sounds delish! This flavor is still available for a limited time in Colombia. Grab it while you can.

 Chipsy Egypt and Lay's Arabia shared their Flavor Cup and selected "Brazillian BBQ" as their winner. No surprise there. Not only does that sound yummy. But Brazil did an amazing job of hosting the World Cup and capturing the World's heart.

Chile also went Patriotic with their "Chile Enselada Chilena" and it sounds unique and tasty. I love a good acidic bag of chips. mmm.

Peru went Patriotic as well and chose "Peru Pollo a la Brasa" (Rotisserie Chicken). Can't complain, Chicken is da bomb! Good choice.

Guatemala  was swayed by flavor and chose "Suecia Queso con Especias" (Sweden Cheese with Spices). Can't go wrong with Cheese. Can't go wrong with Spices. The duo sounds awesome.

 Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, and Honduras basically don't have any online presence, so if you know what flavors they ended up choosing, I'd love to know. Share it down below!

All the winners should still be available for a limited time in the Countries that conducted the contests. If you're interested in these, I'd say try to find them soon since like I said, this article is coming a bit late. AND If you're just curious and would like a reminder of what the other flavors were in this contest; click the "World Cup" tag at the end of this post.

Contest: Lay's Argentina Copa De Los Sabores

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Look who is late to the party. Argentina joined the Copa De Los Sabores game about a month ago... a good 1-2 months behind every other country... so, I might have missed talking about it right away. BUT it's definitely their fault lol.  This World Cup collection features 4 flavors that represent Argentina's take on Mexico, Themselves, China, and Spain. They are pretty straight forward and use the fun packaging we saw from Lay's Chile. The Mexico flavor is "Quesadilla"... mmmm. Argentina is representing themselves with "Asado" aka "Grilled Beef". China is getting the hilarious "Empanadita China" which is an "Eggroll" but described as a Chinese handheld pie, lol. Lastly, Spain is typecast with "Chorizo Iberico".

I don't know how long this collection will be available, but if you are in Argentina now, feel free to eat your feelings about losing the World Cup with these before they are gone for good.

Contest: Margarita Colombia Copa De Los Sabores Round 3

Margarita looks like they are the only country doing a third round in their World Cup tie-in contest, but they've saved some strong contenders for Round 3.

 

For Round 3, Colombia has chosen to represent itself with "Chorizo con Limon" aka "Chorizo Sausage and Lime" flavor. Strange to me, as that is not really a flavor I associate with Colombia, Chorizo is a much more Mexican thing... but whatevs. The flavor still sounds YUMMO! They've chosen a real fun flavor to represent Peru as well, "Aji Peruismo" or "Peruvian Pepper"... this is a flavor I have talked a lot about in regards to Peru's on flavors. It is a type of Pepper that grows only in the mountains of Peru and Lay's Peru loves to use it in their Peruvian collection of chips. The bag depicts a salsa next to the peppers, so it may be a bit of a spicy Tomato salsa flavor as opposed to pure pepper. Either way, both are exciting flavors. 

Yet, I wonder if either will stand a chance. Suprisingly, both Round 1 and Round 2 went to Barbecued Beef flavors. And Ribs and Meats tend to win Margarita's contests historically. But to me, these, along with "Jamon Serrano" are some fun, and unique flavors, even if they are only available for a limited time. I actually just got to try the Round 2 winner which is a Brazilian BBQ flavor, and was really unimpressed by it (review coming soon). I'm not really sure how it won, but the Colombian people have spoken, so I can't really say confidently that either of these have a chance at the title.

What do you think? Does Chorizo come to mind when you think of Colombia cuisine? Have you had a chance to try these? Sound good? Let us know in the comments below... 

Contest: Lay's Chile Copa De Los Sabores

MORE! More glorious contest flavors are popping up! Pepsi Chile announced some flavors that will be available now for their own "Copa De Los Sabores"... and wonderfully, they are different from the other South American contest flavors. Check em out below...

 From Brasil, "Feijoada", a stew dish of Beans, Beef, and Pork.

 From the home nation of Chile, "Ensalada Chilena" or "Chilean Salad", a Tomato-based salad dressed up with onion, coriander, olive oil, and chili peppers (similar to Italian Caprese but no cheese).

 Spain's "Chorizo Iberico" or "Iberico Chorizo" is pretty straight forward. A spicy, dried sausage.

and Finally, from Peru, "Pollo a la Brasa" aka "Rotisserie Chicken". Again, straight forward and delicious sounding.

These rich and exciting flavors should do well in Chile, especially on the wavy style chips that are standard there... as the ridges will hold more seasoning and add more robust potato flavor. The other thing I am LOVING is the packaging. How fantastic do these bags look with the big Country name and the delicious food photos? Not to mention, the use of the Nation's colors. Looks much more modern and hip when compared to the bags from the other South American nations who are having their own Flavor Cup Contests.

What are your thoughts? Sound off below!