Without a doubt, “swicy” is one of the food industry’s favorite new terms—related to products delivering a combination of sweet and spicy flavors. Looking more broadly at the bakery foods category, you could say the term “swicy” applies as well—when you consider new product launches across all categories.

According to Innova Market Insights data, overall US bakery launches grew by about 1% in 2024. However, when you look deeper, the category was led by cakes, pastries and sweet goods with a 12% increase in launches versus the prior year. Launches also were up for baking ingredients and mixes, as well as savory biscuits and crackers. And there it is: sweet and savory-spicy.

On the flip side, new product introductions of sweet biscuits and cookies, as well as bread and bread products both dipped in 2024. They were down 8% and 7%, respectively.

Sweet Treats

Considering that OREO Frozen Desserts were one of Circana’s top 10 New Product Pacesetter winners for 2022-2023 (ranked by first-year sales), it’s clear at-home consumers still crave indulgent treats. After announcing a branded food partnership with country music star Dolly Parton last January, Conagra Brands, Chicago, came out of the gate with a line of Duncan Hines Dolly Parton cake and muffin mixes. Last June, it doubled down on indulgence with two more Dolly Parton bakery items in the freezercase: Decadent Chocolate Pie and Original Whipped Cheesecake.

Do you know the muffin man? Others promoting sweet indulgence were Flowers Foods Inc., Thomasville, Ga., and Café Valley Bakery, Phoenix. Flowers introduced Mrs. Freshley’s Deluxe Hershey’s S’mores Mini Muffins and Café Valley launched Girl Scouts Mini Cupcakes, also in a S’mores flavor.

After acquiring Hostess in 2023, The J.M. Smucker Co., Orrville, Ohio, kept its foot on the innovation pedal. Its new products included Hostess Meltamors Mini Cakes, which are mini lava-style cakes that microwave for a melted center experience in just five seconds. Flavors include Double Chocolate and Chocolate Creamy Caramel. Other new offerings included Hostess HoneyBun Donettes, a mash-up of Hostess Jumbo HoneyBuns and Hostess Donettes; as well as six seasonal Hostess fall and Halloween offerings.

Last fall saw McKee Foods Corp., Collegedale, Tenn., extend Drake’s with three varieties of Drake’s Mini Cake Bites. Bimbo Bakeries USA, Horsham, Pa., also extended its Entenmann’s brand with Little Bites Biggie Muffins that are “over twice the size of the classic Little Bites Muffins” for a better snacking experience.

Interestingly enough, grocery retailer Albertsons Companies, Boise, Idaho, took a bakery focus with Own Brand private label line. Last fall brought a new Overjoyed line as a “curated selection of colorful and tasty products including cupcakes, candles and liners; cookies; chocolatey trail mixes; cheesecakes and sprinkles.” The line includes French macarons, s’mores trail mix and chocolate fudge brownie ice cream cake.

Bring the Heat, Full Flavor!

Cracker processors pushed flavors—in all forms—with lots of new products from Kellanova, Campbell’s, Mondelēz International, Inc., and others.

Kellanova, Chicago, greeted 2025 with Cheez-It Snap’d Crackers in a pizza-inspired Extra Crunchy Margherita flavor. It also extended its Cheez-It Duoz line with a new Pesto + Mozzarella variety. Last summer also brought new Cheez-It x Hidden Valley Ranch Crackers in a dual-branded collaboration with The Clorox Company. Elsewhere, Kellanova bolstered its Club Cracker brand with both a Club Sweet Hawaiian version and it went completely swicy last May when it paired its Club Crisps with Mike’s Hot Honey in a limited-time, co-branded offering.

For its part, Mondelēz pushed flavor as well with introductions such as Applewood Barbecue Triscuit Thin Crisps. Last year it extended its RITZ Bits Cracker Sandwiches line with a new Spicy Queso flavor and bolstered its RITZ Toasted Chips line with a Sweet Habanero flavor. After introducing its Goldfish Crisps line in December 2023, Campbell’s came back in 2025 with two new flavors: Barbecue and Spicy Dill Pickle (previously in a LTO test).

Even Walmart’s new premium private label Bettergoods brand went hot with Thai-Style Pineapple Fried Rice Crackers. These take fried rice crackers and coat them with pineapple and browned soy sauce flavors. Elsewhere, Still Snackin Inc., Fairfield, N.J., extended its Pretzelized Snacks line with Buffalo Pretzel Pita Chips. And in the Pacific Northwest, La Panzanella Artisanal Foods Co., Tukwila, Wash., extended its cracker line with three new namesake Bruschetta offerings: Tomato & Basil, Olive Oil & Sea Salt, and Garlic & Parmesan.

Cookies: New Forms, More Flavor

Early 2025 saw soft cookie innovation setting the tone. Bimbo introduced Entenmann’s Big Chunk Soft Baked Cookies—in a square shape to hold more chocolate—and it debuted in three flavors including Salted Caramel Chocolate. Mondelēz also took Chips Ahoy! in a new direction this year with new Baked Bites. It’s a Blondie offering in a square, soft and chewy texture inspired by a brownie. In other moves, Mondelēz introduced Nabisco Chips Ahoy! Big Chewy Cookies with chocolate chips four times larger than those in the regular cookie. Moreover, the cookie itself is more than three times larger than the flagship offering.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Mondelēz has pushed new product innovation up singlehandedly with its OREO brand. Last year brought fun, limited-time edition, co-branded collaborations with Sour Patch Kids (sister brand within Mondelēz Snackworks) and The Coca-Cola Company. This new year also brought several additional permanent OREO additions: Loaded OREOs, Golden OREO Cakesters, OREO Irish Creme THINS and OREO Minis Peanut Butter. Last but not least OREO ended January with a collaboration involving GRAMMY Award-nominated phenomenon Post Malone. The special edition involved a “first-of-its-kind swirled crème” combining salted caramel and shortbread flavor creme, sandwiched between an OREO chocolate cookie and a signature golden cookie.

Other big brands were active as well. Campbell Snacks, Camden, N.J., ended 2024 and greeted 2025 with a host of new Goldfish offerings. It extended its grahams portfolio with three new dessert-inspired flavors: Strawberry Shortcake, Vanilla Cupcake and Cinnamon Roll. Campbell’s came back this year with a limited-edition Goldfish Butterbeer Grahams, a nod to Warner Brothers’ mythical town of Hogsmeade in the Harry Potter series. Elsewhere, Campbell’s honored the very real town of Ojai, Calif., with Ojai Lemon Sugar Cookies as a new Pepperidge Farm variety. It also extended its Pepperidge Farm Milano line with three Milano White Chocolate varieties: Strawberry, Lemon and Coconut.

Of course, another way to boost cookie consumption is to address consumers’ diet concerns. Still more new offerings promise full flavor—without negatives—across all areas of the store.

This January saw Kayco Beyond, Bayonne, N.J., introduce 12oz packages of Absolutely! Gluten Free Frozen Cookie Dough (Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate, Sugar Cookie) for $5.99 each. In the refrigerated case, Sweet Loren’s Inc., New York, N.Y., partnered with Barbie maker Mattel Inc. on a co-branded refrigerated, pink, heart-shaped cookie dough. Each pack contains 12 pre-cut heart-shaped cookies that are easy to bake and ready in less than 15 minutes. Officials say the collaboration also entails a giveback component. Sweet Loren’s and The Barbie Dream Gap Project support Girls with Impact, an organization that empowers girls to pursue their business dreams. Also targeting the refrigerated case was Macarooz, Cypress, Texas, which celebrated the Christmas season with gluten-free Sugar Cookie Mac Pops for $13.99 per 10-count pack in Costco stores.

Among those with new shelf-stable, gluten-free offerings were Dr. Schär USA, Inc. Swedesboro, N.J.; Whole & Free Foods, Evanston, Ill.; and Mindful Eats LLC, Irvine, Calif. Dr. Schär launched packs of Schär Peanut Butter Blondie Bites, Chocolate Brownie Bites, and Mini Honeygrams. Whole & Free extended its Every Body Eat line with two Cookie Bites with interesting flavors: Cranberry Vanilla and Ginger Cinnamon. Lastly, candy maker Mindful Eats expanded its Krack'd Snacks line with new gluten-free protein cookies: Soft Baked Snickerdoodle, Soft Baked Whyte Chocolate Macadamia, and Soft Baked Peanut Butta.

Roll with the Changes

Although bread, roll, bun and bagel launches were down, new products covered all trends and tastes.

Some products appealed to consumers with a sweet tooth. Bimbo Bakeries extended its Sara Lee Artesano line with Hawaiian Bakery Bread and Buns. A sweeter mash-up involved Bimbo Bakeries and WK Kellogg Co. Those struggling to decide between cereal and bagels could get both with Thomas' Froot Loops Mini Bagels, a limited-edition offering last August.

Breakfast offerings boosted innovation. Flowers Foods took its Wonder brand into breakfast with three English Muffin varieties and three types of bagels. Building on its success with avocado-based bread products Anthony & Sons Bakery, Denville, N.J., extended its line with Avocado Everything Bagels.

With household sizes shrinking, Flowers and Bimbo offered new smaller portions. Bimbo’s offering was a Sara Lee Honey Butter Half Loaf. Flowers likewise introduced a smaller 12oz Nature’s Own loaf in Ancient Grain and Homestyle White varieties.

Some offerings targeted ethnic and artisan tastes. New York City’s Tom Cat Bakery introduced a line of artisanal Japanese Milk Bread products for both retail and foodservice customers. Developed in collaboration with Japan's Yamazaki Baking, varieties include a Shokupan sandwich loaf, a seeded pull-a-part roll and a burger bun. Among other new offerings from Anthony & Sons Bakery was Avocado Seeds & Grains Bread with Guacamole Spice. Last fall also saw Aspire Bakeries LLC, Los Angeles, offer three La Brea Bakery Take & Bake breads in more than 1,000 Target stores nationwide. French Dinner Rolls, a French Twin Pack Baguette, and French Sandwich Rolls each feature a signature sourdough starter and just four ingredients.

Tis the season! Some new breads and rolls targeted seasonal appeal. Last October saw Campbell’s introduce Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Stuffing Seasoned Rolls, complete with sage and onion flavor notes. Bimbo Bakeries also targeted fall for its Thomas Pumpkin Spice English Muffins and Pumpkin Spice Bagels.

Some new products appealed those with dietary interests. T. Marzetti Company, Columbus, Ohio, bolstered its New York Bakery frozen brand with two Gluten Free Texas Toast offerings: Garlic and Five Cheese. Included in Walmart’s new bettergoods line-up is a Keto Friendly Wheat Sandwich Bread. Flowers Foods launched Nature’s Own Keto Soft White Buns (one net carb per severing) and extended its Dave’s Killer Breads Rock 'N' Rolls with a new organic option. La Fournee Doree USA Corp. Inc., Tuckahoe, N.Y., launched a Brioche Gourmet Plant Based Slice Brioche Loaf.

Those interested in earth-friendly offerings could find an angle with Atoria’s Family Bakery, Gilroy, Calif., Atoria’s partnered last year with ingredient supplier Upcycled Foods, Inc., Berkeley, Calif., to develop and launch Atoria’s Family Bakery Mini Upcycled Naan. It features flour made from barley, wheat and rye rescued from the end of the beer-making process.