Franzia Wines and BARK have teamed up to create a limited-time Franzia Halloween costumes: “BARK Red Blend” dog costume — named after fan favorite Franzia wine, Dark Red Blend — and Franzia dog toy inspired by the iconic boxed wine. Humans also looking to get in on the boos-filled fun can opt for the adult-sized Franzia Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon wine box costume to complement their pups. Each adult-sized costume comes with an internal bag that straps around your waist allowing a Franzia wine pouch (not included with the costume) to fit perfectly for easy pouring and a cupholder designed to hold a stack of cups for your Franz.
“Franzia is all about bonding with friends – whom we affectionately call ’Franz’ – over a box of wine,” said Katie Hoefs, brand manager, The Wine Group. “Our Halloween costumes have been a fan-favorite for years, so it only made sense to extend the fun to our favorite furry Franz with a four-legged costume and BarkBoxed Wine Toy.”
The “BARK Red Blend” dog costume, BarkBoxed Wine Toy, and Franzia adult-sized wine box costume will be available on the Franzia Wines and BARKShop for purchase now.
Franzia “BARK Red Blend” Dog Costume (MSRP: $20)
The perfect match for our Human Franzia Halloween Costume! This Franzia “BARK Red Blend” costume has plush, pillow-like sides and adjustable Velcro straps to ensure your furry Franz are comfortable while looking adorable in their favorite boxed wine costume. Sizing available in S, M, or L. Available on barkshop.com and shop.franzia.com.
Franzia “Cabernet Slobbernon” BarkBoxed Wine Dog Toy (MSRP: $15)
Treat your pup to this Franzia wine box toy for a strong pour of fun at the dog park. This multi-part toy includes an outer box, a grunt squeaker inside and a t-shirt rope. Available on barkshop.com and shop.franzia.com.
Franzia Wine Box Costume: (MSRP: $40)
Live your best life this Halloween when you dress up as a Franzia box! Featuring our Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay, these costumes are fully functional with an internal bag that straps around your waist and allows a Franzia wine pouch to fit perfectly for easy pouring. PLUS, this year there is an added cup holder that fits a stack of multiple cups for you to distribute and share Franzia with your Franz! (Cups not included.) Available at shop.franzia.com.
Franzia has over 100 years of winemaking history. The winery was founded by Teresa Franzia, who took out a loan to start Franzia Brothers Wine Company in 1930. In 1985, Franzia became the first wine brand in America to package its wine in a box. Today Franzia continues to strive to uphold Teresa’s legacy of quality, freshness, and value, winning over 150 awards from competitions and reviewers. The brand is celebrating its 26th year as the World’s Most Popular Wine by sales volume. For more information on Franzia, visit www.Franzia.com, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
BARK is the world’s most dog-centric company, devoted to making dogs happy with the best products, services and content. BARK’s dog-obsessed team applies its unique, data-driven understanding of what makes each dog special to design playstyle-specific toys, wildly satisfying treats, great food for your dog’s breed, effective and easy to use dental care, and dog-first experiences that foster the health and happiness of dogs everywhere. Founded in 2012, BARK loyally serves dogs nationwide with themed toys and treats subscriptions, BarkBox and BARK Super Chewer; custom product collections through its retail partner network, including Target and Amazon; its high-quality, nutritious meals made for your breed with BARK Food; and products that meet dogs’ dental needs with BARK Bright. At BARK, we want to make dogs as happy as they make us because dogs and humans are better together. Sniff around at bark.co for more information.
For updates on the specialty food and beverage industries, subscribe to Gourmet News.
Zeppole, LLC is sponsoring popular Italian-American comedian Mike Marino.
“Marino directs his comedy towards all types of people, particularly Italian-Americans,” said CEO Joseph Camerieri, creator of Zeppole Mix. “But more importantly, he is an Italian-American and so passionate and emotionally excited about the product, hence I could not be happier with our sponsorship of Mike Marino.
“He fits our ideal demographic. We love his comedy tour ‘Make American Italian Again‘ and his podcast ‘Live from My Mother’s Basement‘ with past guests like Beverly Hills 90210 star Ian Ziering and actor Joe Montagna from ‘Criminal Minds’, Sean Kanan ‘Karate Kid Part 3’.”
Although the Zeppole mix has been around for a long time, few people are aware of the back story that led to its inspiration. There was a famous Manhattan Italian Feast of San Gennaro, a booth, a real Italian married couple, and now the company announces they will be sponsoring a well-known spokesman and comedian.
Joseph’s mother, Gaetana “Chickie” Camerieri, was born and grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. While growing up, she often celebrated the Feast of San Gennaro. In 1976, Mother Gaetana moved to Florida along with her husband and three children. Years later, as a member of a newly formed Italian women’s group, she pitched the idea of an Italian Feast of San Gennaro to be showcased in Safety Harbor. Fla. The festival soon grew to 15,000 attendees for a three-day weekend event.
Over the years, this recipe was the reason why over 500,000 Zeppole were sold at numerous Italian festivals. As time went on, Joseph Camerieri decided to develop a formula for turning their popular recipe in to a dry mix that could be sold to make at home. Also, the mix could easily be done at home into the tasty treat offered at the festival.
“We couldn’t believe how our Zeppole became such a hit with the festival goers, every year,” Camerieri said. “We hope this unique delicious mix turns out to be somehow a tribute to mom and dad.”
For updates on the specialty food industry, subscribe to Gourmet News.
As of Sept. 21, NationsBenefits has acquired DeliverLean, a food manufacturer specializing in health and wellness. The acquisition is part of NationsBenefits’ strategic vision to expand its healthy foods benefit offering to meet the ever-growing needs of health plans with Medicare Advantage and Part D plans.
DeliverLean’s food as medicine solution, which is being introduced with the NationsMarket brand name, will help MA plan members and low-income populations to live healthier by addressing nutrition and providing specific and actionable direction to motivate behavioral changes in their diets.
With a growing demand for home-delivered, nutritionally focused products such as groceries, fresh produce, and prepared meals, NationsBenefits can help Medicare beneficiaries achieve better health and wellness by providing them with convenient and easy-to-use products. The healthy foods benefit offering is designed to improve members’ health and satisfaction while reducing overall health care costs.
DeliverLean founder Scott Harris will continue to lead this division, as a part of NationsBenefits.
The Deliver Lean acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.
NationsBenefits provides supplemental benefits, flex cards and member engagement solutions for health plans.
For updates on news that affects the food and beverage industries, subscribe to Gourmet News.