Theme parks keep pushing the envelop with food innovations

Published 1:30 am Sunday, December 11, 2016

Hundreds of companies sent representatives to the recent International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo in Orlando. Many of them revealed innovations for theme park concession stands, including:

Waffle on a stick. Anything on a stick tastes good, right? Specialty Equipment and Foods company, Sagra Inc. offers a mix between a waffle and corn on the cob, topped with different sugary add-ons

Light up cotton candy. Glo Cone didn’t reinvent the sugary puff but it definitely brightened it. Using a battery powered LED stick, kids and kids at heart can light up their snack. The company also showed off its glow buckets, which can be used with almost any snack.

BeaverTails. Funnel cake fans should love BeaverTails, oval pieces of fried dough with toppings ranging from cinnamon and sugar to the “Triple Trip” (chocolate hazelnut spread topped with Reese’s Pieces and peanut butter).

SnackTops. If you’re getting a soda, hotdog as well as nachos — you no longer need three hands. After pouring a drink, just snap on a plastic SnackTop tray. The company says it should fit on almost any cup or can.

— Orlando Sentinel