Did you ever wonder how our snack mixes actually got their names? Here are a few more stories from Carolyn Bennett about just how the snack mixes were named:
Chad: “So tell me about South of the Border® Mix.”
Carolyn: “When South of the Border® was originally created, we were using pumpkin seeds from Mexico in mixes. So when we were putting together this mix that had a somewhat spicy flavor profile (like a ‘Mexican’ inspired flavor profile) I didn’t want to call it Mexican Mix. So I figured that South of the Border® could describe a lot of different flavor profile interpretations of the mix. While in one person’s mind it could remind them of Tex-Mex, in another person’s mind it would lean more towards a Mexican flavor influenced mix. Back when I started developing a lot of these mixes; one of the things that I use to generate ideas for mixes were cook books. And a lot of the mixes that we have now are much more common place then when we started. When we started our mixes were classified more as regional flavors not specialty. There wasn’t a lot of Tex-Mex in North Carolina or North Dakota; unless you were in some of the bigger cities like Chicago or LA you couldn’t find those ‘specialty’ flavors. It’s like the Buffalo Chicken Wing, How they started up in Buffalo, NY and now they are a house hold thing.”
Chad: “What about Tahitian Gold™?”
Carolyn: “That one my dad named because there are a lot of exotic fruits and things in the mix; but I don’t think that any of the items in the mix are actually grown in Tahiti. I think he wanted the mix to make the eater feel like they were on an exotic island and the gold aspect of the mix was from the macadamia nuts in the mix.”
Chad: “Is there a story behind Banana Split Mix®?”
Carolyn: “Banana Split®…That one I created when someone sent me a sample of these teeny tiny marshmallows, and I really liked them. I thought that they would be perfect for a mix, but I had no idea what type of mix or what ingredients to mix with these awesome tiny marshmallow. So I had to find a way to build a mix around them, it’s like when someone brings a faucet to an architect and’says build the house around this.’Honestly that how a lot of my mixes start … one element and building the mix around it. ”
