Dive Brief:
- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has added the Crotilla, a cross between a flour tortilla and flaky croissant, in more than 800 of its stores, according to Food Business News.
- The mashup is exclusive to Wal-Mart, and follows a wave of food product mashups like pretzel buns, ramen burgers and sushi donuts that cropped up after the mega-popularity of the Cronut.
- “Whether it’s brunch or brinner, the Crotilla was created to turn boring meals into delicious masterpieces — from breakfast sandwiches and flatbread pizzas, to exciting salad sides and inventive desserts,” Wal-Mart said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Like the Cronut before it, Wal-Mart is hoping that the buzz surrounding its new, exclusive croissant-tortilla mashup will lead not only to heavy sales, but increased foot traffic. It’s a strategy that could very well work given millennials' love for niche fusion foods, which could in turn give the retailer a lot of free advertising on social media channels.
This isn't the first time that Wal-Mart has rolled out an exclusive, indulgent food product. Last year, the retailer partnered with Hostess to serve as the exclusive seller of Deep Fried Twinkies, a frozen creation that came out of a year-long collaboration between the two companies.
Introducing a new product like this isn't something that's often done by retailers, aside from promoting specials at certain times of the year. This kind of product launch could be a costly undertaking, and unless it’s a hit right away, it could quickly flame out.
However, if the Crotilla is a hit, and with word already spreading on Twitter, Instagram and various news outlets, success is very possible, it could help Wal-Mart improve sales by bringing more customers into its stores and away from brick-and-mortar and online competitors — at least for a short time.