Innovation at its Crunchiest

When Hormel Foods acquired the PLANTERS^® snacking portfolio in 2021, the CORN NUTS^® brand came along with it, as did R&D scientist Chris Sentle. Upon joining his new parent company, Sentle — already familiar with the PLANTERS^® portfolio given his incoming proximity to the brand and its products — was initially assigned what he already knew to be an exciting opportunity.

Sentle was asked to explore the CORN NUTS^® brand, which joined the Hormel Foods family of brands six years removed from its latest all-new flavor innovation. Sentle always saw potential for more with the brand, not knowing that he would one day get the chance to scope out that potential, himself.

He didn’t do it alone. After months of discovery, Sentle and others from the R&D team shared their findings — and potential flavor samples — with members of the Hormel Foods marketing team, identifying previously unfounded areas they might consider exploring with the brand.

There’s no reason why you couldn’t treat the CORN NUTS^® brand like a chip brand.
Chris Sentle, R&D scientist

“There’s no reason why you couldn’t treat the CORN NUTS^® brand like a chip brand,” said Sentle, associate senior scientist at Hormel Foods. “We saw a chance to generate some excitement with all kinds of new flavors and new ideas, and the marketing team could see the vision.”

By the end of that meeting, everyone in the room understood the extent of the potential before them with the CORN NUTS^® brand, and what they’ve produced over the last three years confirms the depth of that understanding. Outdated flavors have been replaced with newer, trendier varieties. A growing tradition of summertime, limited-time offerings (LTO) has brought even more flavors into the mix. The Hormel Foods team is also visualizing how the brand might expand beyond the corn kernel, exploring previously uncharted territory with an eye toward the future.

I think when you look at what we do best as a company, it’s seeing things that others don’t see from a brand potential standpoint, like taking the iconic nature of the CORN NUTS^® brand like and translating it into products that are relevant and exciting for consumers.
Tim Bortner, senior brand manager at Hormel Foods

“I think that was the realization, that there was a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm behind the brand that hadn’t been leveraged to its fullest extent,” said Tim Bortner, senior brand manager at Hormel Foods. “I think when you look at what we do best as a company, it’s seeing things that others don’t see from a brand potential standpoint, like taking the iconic nature of the CORN NUTS^® brand like and translating it into products that are relevant and exciting for consumers.”

Bortner later added, “If you’re not innovating, then you just lose relevancy.”

Trendy and Timely

Determined to reinstate the relevancy of the CORN NUTS^® brand, a cross-functional team at Hormel Foods went to work. “The brand hadn’t done a whole lot in the years leading up to the acquisition,” Bortner said, “so there was definitely a chance to reinvigorate the brand’s portfolio with some trendy new flavors.”

It had been a while. Not since 2015 had an all-new flavor been added to the CORN NUTS^® portfolio. Right off the bat, that was a white space begging to be filled.

“We wanted to build a pipeline,” Sentle said. “We thought, let’s figure out what are things that we can tackle immediately, and what are some of the bigger-picture things that we can envision for the future.”

The first flavor unveiled by Hormel Foods was ironically in the same room when Sentle and his colleagues first presented to the marketing team, and immediately emerged as an early favorite. A short time after, that same flavor sample — which later became CORN NUTS^® Mexican Street Corn — won a blind taste test among internal stakeholders as they considered which flavor would kick their innovation strategy into motion.

“Mexican Street Corn at that time was really blowing up in popularity,” Sentle said. “It’s a great street food. It was being added to a bunch of different restaurant menus. Certain retailers offered it as a standalone seasoning. It’s trendy, which is right in line with our overall strategy and what we’re trying to do here.”

Delivering timely, relevant options to meet evolving consumer demand is always Priority 1 for Hormel Foods, and for the CORN NUTS^® brand team. Rising popularity of Hispanic-inspired flavors led to Mexican Street Corn, with consumers increasingly in search of snacking options that delve into cultural traditions. “Loaded” flavor profiles that combine multiple ingredients (meat, cheese, vegetables, etc.) appeal to consumers seeking bold, craveable tastes, hence the invention of CORN NUTS^® Loaded Taco in April 2024.

As you look over the past three years, the numbers prove that the potential we sensed with the brand early on was real, and the results since then have been everything we could have hoped for and more.
Eric Steinbach, director of Foodservice marketing for Hormel Foods

Under Hormel Foods, the makers of the CORN NUTS^® brand have also introduced two LTO flavors to date, jumpstarted by the launch of Mango Habanero in 2023 and followed a year later by Kickin’ Dill Pickle, whose popularity was so immense that in January 2025, it became a full-time addition to the CORN NUTS^® portfolio.

From zero new flavors in six-plus years, to four new flavors in 13 months.

“As you look over the past three years, the numbers prove that the potential we sensed with the brand early on was real, and the results since then have been everything we could have hoped for and more,” said Eric Steinbach, director of Foodservice marketing for Hormel Foods, overseeing convenience stores. “And it was because of people who saw the potential in the brand, laid out the vision, and then executed on that vision. And the exciting part is we’re just scratching the surface.”

More in Store

In hindsight, the CORN NUTS^® brand couldn’t have found a better home than Hormel Foods, an innovation-forward company which has long prided itself on the origination of new ideas.

The timely introduction of bold, trendy flavors has breathed new life into the brand, propelling it into the modern snacking space, but the team at Hormel Foods is far from finished. New ideas are always being explored, always with an eye and ear toward what consumers are craving in the current moment.

“We want to be nimble with our portfolio to be more reflective of the consumer,” said Ashley Krautkramer-Gonya, senior brand manager of the CORN NUTS^® brand. “We’re always assessing and re-assessing our flavors and products to make sure we’re doing what we have to do to succeed as a brand, keeping consumers engaged by keeping things fresh and exciting.”

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