C3: The Food Industry Has Lost the Plot — June 2026

The food industry spent the last stretch doing two things at once: launching products so bizarre they read like satire, and watching its own business models come apart under the pressure of the internet, labor costs, and a customer base that has run out of patience. Both stories are worth telling. Let's get into it.

Quick note before we start: a lot of what's circulating right now as "new" food news is actually 2023 and 2024 material being recycled for clicks. I went back to primary sources on everything in this post. Dates and details below are verified.

Tyrone B. Cookin · C3 Series

Curated Culinary Curiosities

June 2026 Edition

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The Weird Products

Shock Value · July 2025

1. The 9-Volt Battery Chip

Remember licking a 9-volt battery as a kid? That metallic tingle, the little zap on the tongue? A Netherlands-based snack brand called Rewind decided that was a product. In July 2025 they launched what they're calling the world's first 9-volt battery-flavored corn chip — formulated with citric acid, sodium bicarbonate, and mineral salts to replicate exactly that sensation.

Flavorist Mattias Larsson, who led the development, described the brief as "definitely unusual." The result, he said, was "surprisingly tasty." The product launched first in the Netherlands, with other European markets to follow. Americans can request samples. Because of course they can.

The rest of the Rewind lineup is normal — Cheese & Onion, Tangy Sriracha, Creamy Paprika, BBQ & Honey — designed to anchor the brand once the battery chip gets your attention. The whole concept is a nostalgia play. Britney Spears was once asked in an interview whether she'd licked a 9-volt battery. It went viral. Rewind cited that moment as part of the inspiration. Product development fueled by a celebrity confession about a childhood dare. This is where we are.

Chef's take: The flavor science here is actually interesting. Citric acid and bicarb create the tongue-tingling electric sensation. Mineral salts add the metallic note. That's a real formulation challenge, and whoever cracked it deserves credit. Whether you want to eat that on a chip is a separate question. But whoever pitched this to investors while keeping a straight face also deserves something.

→ Sources: PR Newswire (July 17, 2025) · Dexerto · Fox Business

Shock Value · May 2026

2. Rocket Pop Baked Beans Are a Real Product You Can Buy Right Now

On May 20, 2026, Bush's Beans — a 100-year-old company with shareholders and a board of directors — launched three limited-edition summer baked bean flavors: Dill Pickle, Apple Pie, and Rocket Pop. The Rocket Pop variety is infused with cherry, lime, and blue raspberry notes inspired by the classic frozen popsicle. One reviewer described the experience as "unsettling at best."

The Dill Pickle and Apple Pie flavors rolled out at Walmart stores nationwide. The Rocket Pop — presumably the one they knew needed some distance from physical retail — launched exclusively through Walmart online starting May 23. The initial multi-pack dropped on Bush's own site for $5.25, priced as a nod to Memorial Day (5/25), and sold out quickly.

Bush's framing is that these flavors "reimagine iconic summer flavors" and are designed to "spark conversation at cookouts." That part is probably true. If you put Rocket Pop baked beans on a picnic table in June, the conversation is happening whether you want it or not.

Chef's take: Dill pickle beans — defensible. Vinegar and salt against the sweetness of the sauce, that's a real flavor relationship. Apple pie with brown sugar and cinnamon — still in the realm of things that can make sense on a plate. Rocket Pop beans with cherry, lime, and blue raspberry? That's not a food. That's a dare. I've been cooking for 30 years and I cannot construct a single meal where that belongs. I respect the chaos. I'm not eating it.

→ Sources: Bush's Official Release via PR Newswire (May 20, 2026) · Dexerto · The Takeout (review)

Shock Value · May 2026

3. Smoothie King Keeps Doing This — Now It's Pickles

Last August, Smoothie King partnered with Heinz to make a ketchup smoothie. In May 2026, they did it again — this time with Grillo's Pickles. The Smoothie King x Grillo's Pickle Smoothie launched May 12, 2026, blending real Grillo's Pickles with bananas, organic kale, apple juice, kiwi juice, and coconut water. $5.99 for a 20-ounce. Available now at Smoothie King locations nationwide, limited time.

To mark International Pickle Day on May 16, they offered a free 4-ounce pour in stores while supplies lasted. The marketing justification: pickles are having a cultural moment, and they also contain electrolytes. So this is technically a sports recovery drink. That's the argument they're making. They're making it in a blender with a banana.

Reviewers who actually tried it were genuinely surprised. One Taste of Home writer called it "frozen, thick pickle juice" — and then said she couldn't recommend it enough to pickle lovers. The coconut water and banana cut through the brine enough to make it work as a summer drink, if you're already in the pickle camp. Grillo's Chief Commercial Officer Mark Luker put the brand's philosophy plainly: "We love to do unhinged collabs at Grillo's."

Chef's take: Pickle brine as a recovery drink isn't a new idea — athletes have used it for muscle cramps for years, and the electrolyte content is real. So the nutritional angle isn't nonsense. What's strange is putting it in a blender with banana and calling it a smoothie. But here's what I'll say: Smoothie King has figured out that making weird things with recognizable brands generates more press than any ad they could buy. The ketchup smoothie last summer. The pickle smoothie now. They're not a smoothie company anymore. They're a media company that happens to sell smoothies.

→ Sources: Smoothie King Official Release (May 12, 2026) · Taste of Home (review) · QSR Magazine

Shock Value · May 2026

4. Cinnabon-Flavored Bacon Jerky Won an Actual Industry Award

In May 2026, Wicked Cutz — a premium meat snack brand — launched a Cinnabon Bakery Inspired Flavored Bacon Jerky made with Cinnabon's proprietary Makara cinnamon. Smoky, salty, 100% uncured bacon jerky, coated in cinnamon roll flavor. On May 19, at the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Las Vegas — an event with nearly 500 product entries, the largest field in program history — the Wicked Cutz x Cinnabon Bacon Jerky won the Most Innovative New Product Award in the meat snacks category.

This is the first product in a planned licensing collaboration between the two brands. Meat sticks and jerky chips are coming next. The line is currently rolling out nationwide across mass retail, grocery, convenience, and club channels.

Wicked Cutz owner Scott James explained the logic simply: "Cinnabon brings a flavor identity that's instantly recognizable and incredibly craveable." That's a calculated bet. And at least one room full of industry professionals in Las Vegas agreed it paid off.

Chef's take: Sweet and savory pork is one of the oldest combinations in cooking — it shows up across Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Asian cuisines in ways that have made sense for centuries. So the idea itself isn't the problem. Done right, cinnamon-forward bacon jerky could actually be interesting: a little heat, a little sweetness, smoke underneath. Done wrong it's a candy bar that got lost in the meat aisle. The fact that it won at a major industry expo means somebody in that room thought it was done right. I'd try it before I dismissed it.

→ Sources: National Provisioner — Sweets & Snacks Expo (May 19, 2026) · Mass Market Retailers · Sporked

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The Industry Chaos

Industry Watch · 2024

5. McDonald's AI Drive-Thru: The Public Won

Starting in 2021, McDonald's tested an AI-powered Automated Order Taker in partnership with IBM at over 100 U.S. locations. The concept: replace the human voice at the drive-thru window with an AI that takes orders faster, more accurately, and without labor cost. It did not go as planned.

The system struggled with accents, background noise, and customers who changed their minds mid-sentence — which is every customer, ever. TikTok became a highlight reel of the failures: orders for $222 worth of McNuggets, bacon added to soft-serve ice cream, nine sweet teas on a single order. The AI plateaued at roughly 80-85% accuracy. Human workers typically hit 90% or higher. In fast food, that gap is a fire you're constantly putting out with free food and apologies.

In June 2024, McDonald's CEO Mason Smoot officially notified franchisees: the IBM partnership was ending, and the technology would be shut off in all test locations no later than July 26, 2024. McDonald's said the right AI solution is still coming — just not that one. As of 2026, they've announced a second attempt under a new initiative called McDonald's > NEXT. Round two is in motion.

Chef's take: The most unpredictable variable in any food service operation is the customer. I've spent 30+ years dealing with that reality. The idea that an AI system would solve it cleanly — in a car, with road noise and a three-year-old in the back seat and someone who just changed their order twice — I could have told you how that was going to go. The TikTok footage wasn't embarrassing because the technology failed. It was embarrassing because corporate apparently thought it wouldn't.

→ Sources: Restaurant Business Online (June 14, 2024) · CNBC

Industry Watch · 2023

6. MrBeast Burger: When the Ghost Kitchen Eats Itself

In December 2020, YouTube mega-star Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts to create MrBeast Burger — a ghost kitchen brand operated out of existing restaurant kitchens across the U.S. By 2021, there were 1,000 virtual locations. By 2022, over 1,700. One of the most successful virtual restaurant brands in the world, at least by location count.

The problem was the food. Customers posted photos of burgers that were raw, cold, and inedible. Reviews flooded in calling it "disgusting," "the worst burger ever," "tough as shoe leather." Donaldson said he complained to Virtual Dining Concepts repeatedly. His complaints, per the eventual lawsuit, fell on deaf ears.

In July 2023, Donaldson sued to shut the whole thing down — claiming VDC grew the brand too fast, sacrificed quality control, registered trademarks without his permission, and failed to pay royalties. VDC countered in August 2023, claiming Donaldson had publicly sabotaged the brand to get out of his contract, and filed for $100 million in damages.

This is the ghost kitchen model in full public collapse. You cannot QA a burger when the person cooking it doesn't work for the brand on the bag, has never been trained to it, and is running your concept as a side hustle between their own service.

Chef's take: The kitchen is the brand. You can't separate them. Your name goes on the box, your reputation goes in that box. If the food is wrong, your name is wrong. MrBeast found that out at scale in the most public way possible. The ghost kitchen model isn't inherently broken — but it requires more infrastructure, training, and quality control than most operators are willing to invest. The ones that skipped that work are the ones you're reading lawsuits about.

→ Sources: Restaurant Dive (August 2023) · Restaurant Business Online

Industry Watch · 2024

7. Wendy's Surge Pricing: The Fastest Walkback in Fast Food History

On February 15, 2024, Wendy's CEO Kirk Tanner mentioned on an investor earnings call that the company was investing $20 million in digital menu boards and planned to test "dynamic pricing and daypart offerings" by 2025. That was enough.

Within hours, headlines read: Wendy's Is Coming for Your Baconator With Surge Pricing. #BoycottWendys trended. Burger King launched a "No Urge to Surge" counter-promotion within days. The backlash was severe enough that Wendy's issued a formal statement roughly 12 days later clarifying that the plan was to offer discounts during slow periods — not raise prices during rushes. Almost nobody believed them.

The underlying technology — digital boards that adjust throughout the day — is real and already common. Every QSR with digital signage uses some form of daypart flexibility. But Tanner used the words "dynamic pricing" in an investor context where those words carry a specific meaning, and the consumer internet translated it immediately: airline pricing for hamburgers. Clarifications never travel as far as controversies. A lot of customers never saw the correction.

Chef's take: The food service industry has been playing quiet games with portion sizes and ingredient swaps for years and mostly gotten away with it. But the moment you put a number on a screen that changes while the customer is watching — that's a line. People accept that a hotel room costs more on a Friday. They will not accept that a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger costs more at noon on a Tuesday. Different psychology entirely. Tanner should have known that. His communications team definitely should have.

→ Sources: The Conversation · CNN Opinion (March 2024) · MarketBeat

Industry Watch · 2024

8. KFC Bottled a Smell and It Sold Out the Same Day

In April 2024, KFC UK launched No. 11 Eau de BBQ — a 100ml bottle of actual perfume designed to smell like wood smoke, charcoal, and marinated BBQ chicken. Priced at £11 (about $14). Named for KFC's 11 herbs and spices. All proceeds went to the KFC Foundation's youth mentorship programs. It sold out the same day it went live. A second drop was scheduled for May 7.

This is not the first food-brand fragrance in history — Burger King has done it twice, Pizza Hut did a dough-scented fragrance in 2012, and KFC had done a previous "No. 11 Eau de Colonel" in New Zealand. But the timing and the internet's response turned this into a case study for brand marketing in the content era. KFC spent almost nothing on production relative to what they got back in coverage. The internet did the advertising for free.

Brand manager Phoebe Syms put it this way: "At KFC, we're known for thinking outside the burger box. No. 11 Eau de BBQ captures the irresistible scent of our Ultimate BBQ Burger, allowing you to sizzle with every spritz."

Chef's take: Smoke and charcoal are legitimately compelling smells. There's real neuroscience behind why wood smoke triggers appetite — it's primal, it reads as food, it reads as warmth. I'm not shocked it sold out. What I find more interesting is the model: cheap to produce, ships easily, generates enormous press, and the money goes to charity so there's no cynical angle to attack. That's not a gimmick. That's a well-built marketing instrument. Fast food chains are operating more like streetwear brands dropping limited sneakers than restaurants. And some of them are genuinely good at it.

→ Sources: Basenotes (April 2024) · BroBible · Trillmag

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That's C3 for June 2026 — eight stories, all verified, none of them made up, which continues to be the most alarming part. If something I flagged as 2024 feels familiar, that's because social media has been recycling it as new for the past year. Now you know. Back next month with whatever the food industry decides to do next. Based on recent form, it will be something.

— Tyrone

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About Tyrone
30+ years in professional kitchens — from catering in East Texas to cooking aboard a Mercy Ships hospital vessel off the coast of West Africa. I write about food, the industry behind it, and occasionally the people making it very strange. This is TyroneBCookin.com.