Cheetos to roll out Sweetos snacks

Bruce Horovitz | USA TODAY

Snackers soon will have an excuse to turn their fingers cinnamon brown instead of cheesy orange.

Just ahead of Easter, Frito-Lay's Cheetos brand in late February will roll out Cheetos Sweetos — a cinnamon, sugar puff snack. Sweetos is the first sweet snack that Cheetos has cranked out in the brand's 67-year history. The limited-time offering follows a successful 2013 holiday launch of a sweet snack by sister brand Lays, with Lays Wavy Potato Chips Dipped in Milk Chocolate.

For the snack giant, it's about latching on to two converging consumer trends — a jump in "sweet" snacking, particularly by Millennials; and a growing interest by consumers in special holiday offerings from familiar brands. Early this week, for example, Oreo announced plans for a Red Velvet Oreo pegged to Valentine's Day.

"Consumers are seeking more novelty and the snack makers know it," says Tom Vierhile, innovation insights editor at DataMonitor Consumer, a consumer research specialty. This is particularly true with Millennials, he says, with the next generation of snackers more open to unconventional snacks — and unconventional snacking occasions.

For years, various Frito-Lay salty snack brands have tested unusual offerings and sweet flavors outside the U.S. market, but now the brand seems more willing to try oddball snacks inside the USA, too. Last summer, to much fanfare, 7-Eleven stores domestically rolled out Loaded Doritos — warm, triangular-shaped mozzarella sticks — coated and pan-fried with a signature Doritos taste.

"This is not a short-term strategy," says Jeff Klein, vice president of brand marketing for Frito-Lay North America. "We are looking for growth outside of the cheese puff segment."

A 7-ounce bag of Sweetos, dusted in brown speckles, will fetch $3.49. Frito-Lay is looking into other sweet Cheetos flavor options, but Klein declined to name or describe them for competitive reasons.

The snack will be sold in a bag with conventional Easter-themed colors, Klein says, as Frito-Lay looks to grab a piece of the $2.2 billion Easter sweets market, more commonly focused on items like jelly beans and chocolate rabbits. "It will make a dent in the holiday," he says.

The cinnamon flavor also could have special appeal to consumers who want a sweet taste, but are put off by overly sugary products, says Vierhile. "Cinnamon has less baggage than sweet flavors that are perceived to be more sugar-based," he says.

Also, sweet snacks like cinnamon tend to open up the possibility of unconventional day parts for Frito-Lay, says Vierhile. Cinnamon snacks can work in the morning — and very late at night, when salty snacks are typically less popular, he says.

But will Cheetos Sweetos continue the Cheetos legacy of leaving the snack's tell-tale dust-on-the-fingers?

"We believe the orange Cheetos dust that comes off on your fingers is an important part of the Cheetos eating experience — for some it's the best part," says Klein. "Absolutely there will be a similar playful experience when eating Sweetos."