Utz Brands has expanded its salty snack portfolio with three new product launches, introducing chicken dipping sauce flavoured crisps, cheddar bacon ranch cheese balls, and spicy pickle bites produced in partnership with Grillo's Pickles.
Rolling out across US supermarket and convenience store channels from 21 September, the lineup introduces two limited-edition convenience formats alongside a new permanent flavour extension for the brand's core ridge-cut potato chip range.
"We're always looking for ways to bring bold, unexpected flavours to the snack aisle without losing sight of what's made Utz a household name for over 100 years," said Stacey Schultz, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Utz Quality Foods, a subsidiary of Utz Brands, Inc. "This lineup gives snackers something new to reach for that will excite their taste buds and keeps snacking fun."
Flavour Formulations and Product Formats
The three new snack lines target popular savoury flavour profiles across extruded corn, puffed maize, and sliced potato formats:
🍗 Utz Ripples Chicken Dipping Sauce Flavoured Potato Chips: Sliced from fresh potatoes and ridged for dipping, the chips are seasoned to balance tangy, smoky, and sweet profile notes emulating classic fast-food chicken dipping condiments. The variant joins the core Utz portfolio as a permanent SKU, available in 7.75-ounce sharing bags and 2.75-ounce single-serve formats.
🧀 Utz Cheddar Bacon Ranch Flavoured Cheese Balls: A seasonal line extension to the brand's core puffed cheese snack, combining aged cheddar cheese flavour with smoky bacon lardons and creamy ranch herb seasoning, packaged in 2.5-ounce bags.
🥒 Utz Spicy Pickle Flavoured Bites: A bite-sized extruded corn snack seasoned with dill, garlic, and vinegar notes paired with chilli heat to replicate Grillo’s signature refrigerated pickle brine, packaged in 2.5-ounce convenience bags.
Brand Licensing and Grillos Pickles Collaboration
The introduction of Spicy Pickle Flavoured Bites marks an extension of Utz's commercial partnership with Boston-based refrigerated pickle specialist Grillo's Pickles, which the companies established in 2022.
The collaboration allows the ambient snack producer to license flavour intellectual property from a fast-growing specialty refrigerated brand, translating vinegar-brined flavour systems onto extruded grain snack bases.
"We've been working with Utz since 2022 to bring pickle lovers new ways to enjoy our flavour beyond the refrigerated pickle aisle," said Mark Luker, Chief Commercial Officer at Grillo’s. "They've been great partners over the years, and the new Spicy Pickle Bites are a fun addition to the lineup."
Distribution
Utz is utilising a tiered retail distribution model tailored to channel-specific shopping occasions:
Supermarket Multiples and Regional Grocers: The permanent Chicken Dipping Sauce Potato Chips have launched across national and regional supermarket accounts, including Walmart, Publix, and Albertsons Companies banners (ACI), alongside direct availability through Utz's e-commerce platform.
Convenience and Forecourt Networks: The 2.5-ounce single-serve Cheddar Bacon Ranch Cheese Balls and Spicy Pickle Bites are targeted at impulse front-counter and grab-and-go fixtures across convenience operators, including 7-Eleven, Circle K, CVS, QuikTrip, Sheetz, and Wawa.
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