Chip News

Seaweed and turmeric rule as hot new flavors in Frito-Lay snack survey

Seaweed chips, so green.

Seaweed potato chips are on the horizon, says a new survey from Plano-based Frito-Lay.

According to Frito-Lay's annual "U.S. Snack Index" survey, seaweed is a hot up-and-comer, along with middle-Eastern flavors tahini and turmeric. Globalization is the big trend, with consumers craving more flavors from their snacks and other food items.

The survey found that:

More than two-thirds (69 percent) say they eat globally inspired foods and flavors at least once a month
More than three-fourths (76 percent) like to try flavors from places and cultures that are not their own

What do we want? Global flavors. When do we want it? Now.

"What Americans choose to eat has become a complex mishmash of cultures and spices well beyond ethnic or traditional silos," says Dr. Christine Cioffe, research and development VP for Frito-Lay's parent company PepsiCo. "That's why we maintain a proprietary database of more than 1,000 global flavor variants and employ hundreds of culinary experts and scientists dedicated to exploring new tastes and flavors."

The Index also found that 74 percent of respondents are willing to try new types and flavors, rather than purchase snacks they've already had.

"It's given us a tasty challenge — to predict, respond, and adapt to rapidly expanding consumer preferences with speed and agility by leveraging technology to ensure we can get consumers exactly the snacks they want exactly where they want to buy them," says Michael Lindsey, whose title is chief transformation and strategy officer for Frito-Lay North America. You expect to read a long sentence about leveraging technology from a guy with a title like that.

Frito-Lay is also using AI technology to identify micro-markets for a flavor or product that might otherwise be missed. Is that even legal? For example, AI unveiled small market segments in the usually bland eastern U.S. that sought hot and spicy flavors.

This is an area for the South and Southwest to gloat, since those areas are more culinarily adventurous — particularly Atlanta and Houston, two cities more adventurous than the national average.

Frito-Lay has been busy creating spicy snacks to meet the need, with flavors such as mole, fried pickles, Himalayan salt, and sweet chili.

The poll was conducted between August 13-15, among a national sample of 2,200 adults.

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Sushi News

Mizu Sushi opens at Greenville Ave Dallas address with sushi history

Mizu Sushi

A new sushi restaurant has debuted on Dallas' Greenville Avenue at a location with a long sushi history: Called Mizu Sushi & Handroll Bar, it opened in late November at 2014 Greenville Ave. in the space most recently occupied by Kaiyo Sushi but previously, for many years, Teppo, until it closed in 2022.

Mizu is from chef Roy Ahn, a Dallas sushi veteran who has owned or managed sushi restaurants such as Little Katana, Kome Sushi, and Sushi Zen in Southlake; he also owns Otaru, which he opened in the former Lucia Dallas space in Bishop Arts in 2024.

Ahn specializes in good sushi done well and at a fair price, and that formula is in play at Mizu, where the goal was to provide an old-school traditional sushi restaurant that could serve as a relaxed alternative to the current omakase trend, says Ahn's son, Chris Ahn.

"A lot of places that have opened lately have been omakase, but we wanted to offer an option where you don't have to break the bank," Chris says. "Not everyone has $300 — when it's that expensive, it's not easy to be able to indulge all the time."

If you really want omakase, they do have an omakase-style offering — "but we are also there if you don't want a formal experience — if you just want to come in and order a few items a la carte, and in a more casual style," Chris says.

Their menu features traditional sushi and hand rolls, with all the classics from tuna to uni to hamachi. "That's my father's style — to offer a variety of good-quality fish from Japan and around the world," Chris says.

They also have a full bar with cocktails, wine, beer, and sake.

They took over the location from chef Jimmy Park, who opened Kaiyo there in November 2023, but who says he wanted to place all his focus on Shoyo, his award-winning restaurant.

Mizu means water, Chris says.

"Japan is surrounded by water, and if you look inside the restaurant, it has a lot of blue neon lights that are reminiscent of water," he says. "We just wanted to creat a place with music, vibes, good lighting — just a nice place to get traditional sushi," he says.

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