M&M’s will introduce three new flavors in 2019: English Toffee Peanut, Mexican Jalapeño Peanut, and Thai Coconut Peanut, CNBC is reporting.
In an Instagram post from SnackChatLive, you can see the packaging for the three flavors, each one represented by a “spokescandy” – that is, the anthropomorphic animated M&M candies of the commercials – dressed in the garb of each country. Each country being, of course, Thailand for the Thai Coconut flavor, England for the English Toffee Flavor, and Mexico for the Jalapeño flavor.
Fans are encouraged to vote on which flavor they like best (this writer will be voting for English Toffee). It’s not clear, however, if the “winner” will just be honorary, or if it will be put on store shelves while the others are sent to the candy graveyard.
It bears noting that, this spring, M&M’s offered three flavors and put them up to a vote, those three being Crunchy Espresso, Crunchy Raspberry, and Crunchy Mint. Crunchy Mint won and went on to appear on store shelves for a limited time. You may have noticed a pattern: all three were crunchy. In the current contest, all of the flavors are peanut-based.
So does that mean a similar situation is happening here – that the winner will get a limited run while the other two go back to the factory? Or are all three going to be available forever (or for as long as they sell)? So far, manufacturer Mars Wrigley Confectionary isn’t saying.
However, according to WTOP-TV (Washington, D.C.), the company is believed to be doing the same thing it did last spring – putting up three possible flavors for a vote and then offering the winner up for a limited time.
As USA Today reported at the time, the introduction of three new flavors of M&M’s (and a vote to see which one would get sold) looked better on paper than it turned out in practice. After samples were passed around to workers at the newspaper’s D.C.-area offices, the reviews came in. And they were decidedly mixed. Crunchy Espresso was the “winner,” although the general consensus was that a cup of coffee would be preferable.
A similar stunt was done in 2016, according to Delish , when M&M’s offered up for a vote. The options at the time were coffee nut, honey nut, and chili nut (which sounds suspiciously not unlike Mexican Jalapeño Peanut). Coffee nut was the winner.
As of this writing, it is unclear when or how fans will be able to vote on the new M&M’s flavors.
