Pumpkin flavoring permeates fall food and drink products

  • By Andrea Brown Herald Writer
  • Friday, October 2, 2015 3:20pm
  • Life

Welcome to fall.

It’s the time of year when stomachs start to turn colors because of all the pumpkin spice products.

Once the domain of those squishy-squashy pies, pumpkin flavor is everywhere.

Coffee, tea, vodka, energy drinks.

Sausage, salsa, hummus, yogurt, ice cream, chewing gum, candy corn.

Peeps, Pringles, Pop-Tarts, Twinkies.

Dog treats, dish soap, lotion, shampoo.

Is nothing sacred when it comes to the pumpkin pandemonium?

Nope. Not even pumpkin seeds. These even come pumpkin spiced.

There’s even a name for it: “pumpkin creep,” a take on “seasonal creep” when retailers promote products earlier to expand sales.

Orange is the new black in terms of sales. According to Nielsen data, pumpkin product sales have grown 79 percent since 2011. Last year, 37 percent of Americans bought a pumpkin-flavored product, accounting for $361 million in sales.

Good gourd! That’s a lot of lattes.

The Herald did a taste test of some pumpkin-flavored goods, using workers as guinea pigs. No pumpkins were injured or hurled in the test.

Turns out many pumpkin products contain artificial flavoring or only traces of pumpkin anyway.

Want the real thing?

Eat pie.

Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.

Taste test comments

Pumpkin Oreos: “An abomination of the holy wafer.” “Taste the same as the original Oreos.”

Pumpkin spice pizzelle Italian cookies: “Meh.” “Excellent.”

Trader Joe’s pumpkin spice salted caramels: “Tasted like biting into an unbaked pumpkin pie. It wasn’t pleasant.”

“Yummy! Nothing like taking a bite of that chocolate and having the soft filling meet you in the middle.”

Pumpkin tortilla chips: “Salty and crunchy, and the pumpkin added a savory element but it wasn’t too strong.”

“The tortilla chip is in no way improved by the addition of pumpkin pie flavoring. What was the creator of that thinking? Did they actually taste them before sending them out to the world?”

Chipotle pumpkin salsa: “Very nice kick to it.” “Craving a pumpkin beer to go with it.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.