Gotta Get At This: Lay's Belgium Winter Edition Naturel Oven Stars, Oven Crispy Thins Emmental Cheese and Olive Oil & Herbs, and Collection Tapas Olive and Pesto

Lay's Belgium has a lot of new releases hitting shelves recently, all of which look DELISH! Here's what's new...

Winter Edition Naturel Oven Stars is a FANTASTIC idea! In celebration of the Winter Holidays, they've released a Natural flavored (This is the same as Original or Ready Salted flavor) Star shaped chip. These are the same as Belgium's current "Naturel Oven" ridged, baked chips; but shaped like festive stars. Here in the states you can buy the regular shaped equivalent under the "Ruffles Original Oven Baked" moniker. The shape adds a little Holiday kitch to it, and that's something I'm a big fan of... but as far as being a bag worth chasing across nations, it may not be worth the hunt for just a shape change.

Belgium has also added a completely new collection to their repertoire... the "Collection Tapas". This is a collection France debuted back in 2013 composed of an "Olive" flavor and a "Pesto" flavor. The Olive flavor had some very favorable reviews online and both of them make perfect sense as potato chip flavors. If the collection is spreading, it would be great to see them hit the states, I can see them being a hit here.

Lastly, Belgium is extending their Oven crackers collection, it started with biscuits and now has reached out to include "Crispy Thins". These are just airy, thin, potato-based crackers flavored as "Emmental Cheese" and "Olive Oil & Herbs". Emmental is just a fancy way of saying Swiss Cheese which is a subtle cheese that probably compliments the cracker well. And Olive Oil and Herbs is pretty straight forward too. They sound yummy, and I assume the collection is selling well because it is expanding. What do you think? Is this beyond the scope of what you expect from Lay's? Or do they sound yummy? Let us know your opinions in the comments section below!

Contest: Lay's Netherlands Raad de Smaak 2014 Mystery Bags revealed!

 

Lay's Netherlands has revealed what the 3 mystery flavors were in their "Guess the flavor" competition. 

 The yellow bag was hinted as being a "Pittage" ("Spicy") flavor and it has been revealed

to be "Kaassoufle met chilisaus". 'Kaassoufle' is a popular Dutch street-food pastry filled with melted cheese inside a thin dough wrapper that is then breaded and deep-fried. 'Met Chilisaus' or 'with Chili Sauce' is pretty straight forward. So the yellow bag probably has the 'Chili and Cheese' or 'Spicy Queso' vibe.

The green bag was hinted as being a "Hartige"("Savory") flavor and has been revealed as "Hollands Stoofpotje". 'Stoofpatje' just means 'Stew', so this flavor is basically a "Dutch Stew"... I'm not really sure what that would consist of aside from Dutch Beef and root veggies. But, Stew is delicious, so this probably tastes beefy and comforting.

The final pink bag was hinted to be the "Zoet"("Sweet") flavor and has the most potential to be something we've never seen before. The flavor has been revealed to be "Dubbelvla choco vanille"... 'Vla' is a dutch custard like pudding (it's kinda like English Custard, it's kinda like American Pudding). Vla comes in many flavors, Vanilla, Chocolate, Orange, Holiday flavor, etc. They are sold in what look like milk cartons, and just poured into bowls and eaten alone or with whipped cream on top. 'Dubbelvla' is a flavor but it also means 'Double vla' and in this case it is "Double vla Chocolate & Vanilla". Much like here in America we have swirled Chocolate & Vanilla softserve ice cream, the Dutch enjoy the flavor combo in their pudding. And Lay's have paired that flavor with potato chips. Soooo, basically, this flavor is Chocolate & Vanilla chips. Ya. Sounds boring, but who knows, it could actually taste awesome. 

I'd love to try them but I just don't see the opportunity arising. So, I've got to live vicariously through others. If you've gotten the chance to try these, let us know in the comments! 

Anything here sound delicious or crazy to you? We'd love to know. Share your thoughts in the comments. Happy Hunting!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year: Lay's USA Wavy Milk Chocolate Covered and Wavy Dark Chocolate Covered

They're back and better than ever! Lay's USA has brought back chocolate covered chips this holiday season! Last year Lay's debuted a personal 5OZ sized bag of Milk Chocolate dipped Wavy Lay's that swept the nation. These chips were sold exclusively through Target and were sold out EVERYWHERE. I could not get a hold of them... it was devastating. But I kept my eyes peeled this year and caught the 2014 edition already out in the wild.
This year, Lay's has expanded their holiday sweet treats to include a Dark Chocolate variant to sit on shelves next to the Milk Chocolate original. Bags are once again 5OZ, and the price has gone up by 50 cents making these a bit pricey at $3.99 per bag.
I expect these to fly off shelves yet again this year, so if you missed out on these, or you're just missing them, head over to Target and stock up before they are gone.
I'll have reviews up asap, but if you've already tried these give us your thoughts in the comments section, we'd love to know if these live up to the hype! Happy Hunting y'all!

Sabritas USA Adobadas

My friend was so sweet... she was visiting from Mexico, and while here she heard I had this blog so she asked me to try these "Adobadas" chips with her. I was thinking they were gonna be from our southern neighbors, but as soon as I saw these I knew they were from the wonderful US of A. I've reviewed the Mexican version in the past so I noticed the logo is different... but also, this US version says it comes from Plano, Texas on the back. That is a pretty good giveaway if you are ever confused.
I assume these are made for communities in the United States that have a substantial percentage of Hispanic people in them. I used to see them in the Hispanic markets in my neighborhood before they all converted to Asian markets lol. #butreallytho

So, lets talk review. When you open the bag you catch a huge whiff of Body Odor... yup... body odor. At least, to me, that's what cumin smells like. Because Cumin is straight up nasty. Cumin is one of the many spices that make up the Adobo seasoning that is popular in Spanish cooking. Adobo can be used dry as a spice rub or it can be made into a sauce and it is comprised of Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Cumin, Garlic Powder, and Chili Powder. Just from the smell, the bag may seem overwhelming, but if you can hold your breath, it is a great bag of chips. Just like it's Mexican counterpart that I reviewed back in 2012, these chips are seasoned deliciously. You don't get the taste of Cumin once you start snacking, however the Paprika and Onion Powder do shine through. Along with the spice mix comes hearty tomato flavor and sour lime. The adobo is rich and flavorful, and the lime cuts that spice perfectly. The chip itself is light-years ahead of Mexico's version (theirs has a weird gritty texture), the chips all look nice and have a mild flavor (As with regular US Lay's, the chips just don't have the rich potato-y taste you find in other nations). But, as the seasoning is the star on these chips, you don't miss the robust potato flavor. The combination is really tasty and I could see fans of BBQ chips and fans of spicy chips both liking these a lot (and no, i'm not calling these spicy). If you are a fan of Mexico's "Adobadas" chips, then I def think these are an upgrade, and they are much easier to get a hold of.
If you haven't tried these before I highly recommend you hunting them down next time you are near a Hispanic market or a convenience store in Hispanic neighborhoods. Happy Hunting ya'll.

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 USA Do Us A Flavor 2014 Winner Announced!

The votes are in! Great job America, you chose "Kettle Cooked Wasabi & Ginger" as your winner!
I really did not see that coming. I said this was a surprisingly delicious bag of chips... it made me a Wasabi Ginger believer, but I thought it stood NO chance of winning. I thought for sure "Bacon Mac & Cheese" had this locked up. So, its nice to see the bag that deserved the win came out on top (because somewhere inside i'm still bitter Chicken & Waffles didn't win, lol).

The winner was Meneko Spigner McBeth who took home $1 Million Dollars! Amazing. Congrats to her!! Not bad for a day's work.

So, enjoy the yummy new flavor America, and if you weren't a Wasabi Ginger lover, make sure you hoard whatever flavor was your favorite before it disappears FOREVER!

Contest: Walkers UK Do Us A Flavor Winner Revealed!

It wasn't really much of a fight, since Walkers decided to go all INSANE and have this flavor up against a Raccoon meat flavored bag... but Pulled Pork in Sticky BBQ Sauce has finally come out victorious. The flavor sounds delicious, and we are gonna try our hardest to get a hold of it, but until then, all I can say is good choice. And nice win for Paul Rothwell, whose homegrown flavor with Pork from Norfolk awarded him a nice One Million British Pounds. FANCY. Congrats Paul, and all the islanders who get to taste this treat.

Contest: Lay's Canada Do Us A Flavour 2014 Winner Announced!

Lay's Canada has come out and chosen it's victor. Randall Litman, who came up with the "Wavy Jalepeno Mac N Cheese" flavor has won, his new flavor will stay on shelves in Canada for at least the next year and he wins a nice prize of $50,000 CAD Plus 1% of bag sales. Fantastic! Congrats Randall! This flavor sounds great to me, and I've just been able to pick up a bag and give it a taste.. so review coming soon.
If you are in Canada, definitely give this bag a taste, OR track down the other Do Us A Flavour contestants and give them a taste quickly before they are gone for good.

All About Lay's: Russia

Hey kids. It's been slow news recently while we await to hear which flavors are going to win all these contests being held all over the world (like wtf, why are the World Cup contests still undecided in South America). So I decided to start a new segment here at The Chip Report, a segment dedicated not to the newest bag of chips, but to the standard range of flavors being produced every day in distant lands. Today, we'll start the segment with RUSSIA.

 

To begin, Lay's Russia has 3 ranges; Lay's: the traditional chip, Lay's Max: The thicker cut wavy style chip, and Lay's Strong: a Ruffles style chip that is also noted for "strong" flavors.

Lay's introduced their signature potato chips to the Russian market in 1992, a market that found salted potato slices boring. It wasn't until 2005 that Lay's did extensive market research across the whole of Russia to introduce flavors that would have more appeal to the Russian public. This research inspired Lay's to create Crab, Caviar, Pickled Cucumbers and a variety of unique flavors that would bring Lay's the success they had in their homeland. And later would lead to the introduction of Lay's Max and Lay's Strong.

Those signature Lay's make up the biggest line in Russia with flavors "Bacon", "Salted", "Cheese", "Green Onion", "White Mushrooms with Sour Cream", "Potatoes with Butter and Dill", "Sour Cream and Fresh Herbs"(which also comes in a Ruffled version, but because the flavor is mild it is just part of the Lay's line not the Strong line), "Pickled Cucumbers", and "Crab" (I can't find any official info regarding the status of "Red Caviar" flavor, but I find it unlikely it was discontinued, so I'll include it in this post... a LOT of countries only post some of the flavors they actually sell online, so it makes hunting them down a lot harder than you would think). Take a look.

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Russia's version of Lay's MAX are most comparable to our Lay's Wavy line. They are waved, thick cut, potato chips in "Meat on Coals","Cheese and Onion", and "Chicken Wings". Other nations, most notably the UK, also carry the MAX line, but as a Ruffled chip, so the brand depends on local markets.

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Finally is the Lay's Strong line. At first glance, these are Ruffles but under a different brand name... upon further inspection the Strong line shows it's character actually comes from a collection of Bold flavors. "Smoked Cheese", "Aspic with Horseradish" (don't know what Aspic is? Google it, it's Meat Gelatin bro), and "Spicy Hunting Sausages". This line is probably the most telling about the Russian market. Frito-Lay's own study found that Russian's considered the traditional Salted chip to be "boring" and the Strong collection is comprised of loud flavors. Most likely in an effort to provide Russian consumers with the bolder flavors that would appeal to them.

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So what do you think? Does any of Russia's range make your mouth water? Are you dreaming about those Butter and Dill flavored ones like I am?? Have you found and tried any of these? We'd love to know!  Sound off in the comments below.

Lay's USA Pico De Gallo

Here is a bag that should be an easy find for US chip hunters. "Pico de Gallo" flavor has been out for a year now and I've just finally gotten around to trying it. #oops
This flavor was chosen as part of a Frito-Lay employee only contest to create a new flavor. The winner Samuel Oliveros is a customer service representative at Frito-Lay in Manteca California who used his Hispanic upbringing as inspiration for the flavor. In an email interview with The Chip Report, Oliveros told us "Since it's pretty much tradition at any Hispanic event such as parties or just a home cooked meal I had no doubt that would be my choice" and that he wanted to create a flavor that was "something everyone likes".

When trying this bag, I had a bit of excitement, I like the idea of acidic flavors with salty chips. And while I think the inspiration was a fantastic choice, ultimately it fails to meet expectations. Sadly, my shorthand notes sum this bag up pretty well... I wrote "Bro, these taste like Tomato, bro". It's hard to describe this bag better than that. The bag smells like Tomato, the chips taste like Tomato, and the color looks like Tomato. Instead of the promised complexity of Tomato, Onion, Cilantro, and some heat... you get a one note flavor. Maybe there is a peek of Lime... but it is quickly lost. Just the authentic fruity flavor of Tomato off the vine. The potato itself is average... so across the board this bag is dull. Lay's USA definitely need to focus a bit on their Salsa flavors though. We just reviewed their "Mango Salsa" flavor and it suffered from the same lack of complexity and overwhelming fruity-ness. They should look towards their "Garden Tomato and Basil" flavor for inspiration (which I am not a fan of, but the flavor has character and complexity).

The idea for this bag was great, and Samuel Oliveros had some words of wisdom for those of us who hope to win the next "Do Us A Flavor" competition "My advice to anyone trying to submit a winning flavor would be to not necessarily think outside the box. There are tons of simple ingredients that can create a winning flavor."

It's nice to see that Frito-Lay appreciates the ideas of their employees as much as their customers... especially when we get to see new flavors because of it ;p It would be nice to see this contest again, maybe this year ;ppp (hint hint)

So... have you tried this bag? Did you like it? Does it even compare to flavors like "Chicken & Waffles" or "Wasabi Ginger"? Sound off down below...



BONUS FACT: Samuel Oliveros' favorite flavor before he got his own flavor was BBQ.