News

Baskin-Robbins taps into customer base for flavor innovation

January 25, 2011

Baskin-Robbins will introduce its new Bunches of Crunches flavor nationwide in June. This is no ordinary "Flavor of the Month" for the brand, however.

Bunches of Crunches is the brainchild of Diane Sroga of Chicago and was created for the chain's inaugural "Create Baskin's Next Favorite Flavor" contest. The contest began in October, shortly after the retirement of five signature flavors, and allowed participants the chance to create their own ice cream profiles with a virtual "Flavor Creator."

Concoctions had to play on the chain's 31 base flavors and could feature a variety of ribbons and mix-ins.

More than 40,000 entries were submitted, which were eventually whittled down to 10 finalists.

Bunches of Crunches features chocolate ice cream with pecans, Heath bar pieces and a caramel ribbon and was voted as the winner by fans in an online poll.

Sroga visited Baskin-Robbins' corporate headquarters in Canton, Mass. this week to mix the flavor for the first time with the company's culinary team, including executive chef Stan Frankenthaler.

"We are pleased to congratulate Diane Sroga on mixing a creative, delectable new ice cream flavor that we are proud to feature as our June 2011 Flavor of the Month," said Brian O'Mara, vice president of marketing for Baskin-Robbins. "We also want to thank all our fans who participated in the first annual Create Baskin's Next Favorite Flavor Contest. We received thousands of innovative and incredibly delicious ice cream flavor submissions which made this an exciting competition."

Sroga's flavor will be immortalized in the Baskin-Robbins ice cream library alongside famous staples such as World Class Chocolate, Jamoca Almond Fudge and Gold Medal Ribbon. 

Baskin-Robbins joins a variety of other quick-service chains, from Dunkin' Donuts to Culver's, that have leveraged social media to tap into their fans' imaginations for product innovation promotions.