Hormel Foods has released SPAM Hot Honey, marking the brand’s first permanent new flavor in two years and its latest bid to ride the sweet-and-spicy food trend sweeping American grocery aisles.
The company told Fox News Digital the launch “taps into one of today’s fastest-growing flavor trends,” adding that SPAM Hot Honey Flavored “reflects the SPAM brand’s ongoing commitment to flavor innovation” and “delivers the best of both worlds with a balance of sweetness and heat.”
The new variety is now on shelves at select grocery retailers nationwide, joining a lineup that already includes more than 10 SPAM flavors.
To mark the release, Hormel teamed up with Win Son Bakery in New York City, offering two limited-time menu items — a breakfast sandwich and a fan tuan, a traditional Taiwanese sticky rice roll — at the bakery’s Brooklyn and Manhattan locations through Sept. 20.
Fans split on social media
Reaction online has been divided. Some customers said they were eager to try it. “I’d give it a shot,” one person wrote on Facebook, while another said, “I try every new SPAM that comes out.”
Others were less enthusiastic. “I’m still a fan of just the original flavor,” one commenter wrote, adding, “Sweet and Spicy may taste good fried, but I will have to pass.” Another was blunter: “Absolutely NOT in any flavor!”
“So tired of this hot honey trend everywhere,” one Reddit user wrote.
The debate reflects a broader saturation point some consumers feel with hot honey, which has in recent years shown up in chain restaurant menus, sauces, potato chips and bacon as food companies chase demand for “swicy” — sweet-and-spicy — products.
A nearly 90-year-old brand
SPAM was introduced by Hormel in 1937 and became a household name during World War II, when more than 100 million pounds of the canned meat were shipped to feed Allied troops. The product has since sold more than 9 billion cans worldwide and remains especially popular in Hawaii and parts of Asia.
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