Editor’s Choice: Food and Beverage Strategies and Collaborations of 2024

The Millennial and Gen Z generations currently have a significant influence on the global market, as they continue to revive brands and intellectual properties (IP) from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. As these nostalgic brands re-enter the spotlight, they have been creating unique experiences to re-capture the attention of longtime fans and engage new audiences.

One of the licensing categories nostalgic brands leaned on to do so this year was food and beverage (F&B). Not only is F&B a great way to create a unique brand experience, but the category has been gaining more attention and growing year-on-year. According to Licensing International’s 2023 Global Licensing Industry Study, F&B grew by 5.3%.

This year, the licensing industry also saw F&B brands expand further into the fashion space as well as partner up with one another to create memorable F&B products.

Branded Cafés

Branded cafés and restaurants was a F&B strategy companies used to build brand awareness and enhance anniversary celebrations and brand experience in 2024. This strategy was utilized by celebrities, influencers, television series, games and more.

Sanrio’s Hello Kitty celebrated her 50th anniversary this past year and commemorated the landmark event with the opening of two new cafés. One location was opened in spring in Vancouver, Canada (the first Hello Kitty Café in Canada) and a Hello Kitty and Friends Café opened in fall at Hollywood’s Universal City Walk. Both locations offer merchandise, food, desserts, coffee, tea and drinks inspired by the city and Hello Kitty. These cafés were not only built to celebrate an anniversary and put caffeine and/or sugar cravings to rest, but also provide a place where fans can share their fandom, develop friendships and connect with Hello Kitty in a different way.

Related:Special Report: Food and Beverage Licensing Stays Hot

A second Care Bears Café was built at Mega Bangna - one of Southeast Asia’s largest retail destinations - in Bangkok, Thailand. Cloudco Entertainment, owner of the IP, experienced enormous success with the first café in Shanghai, so the company decided to spread the excitement even further with a Bangkok location that offers a larger café, more color and a bigger variety of sweets, drinks, merchandise and other items.

During the café’s grand opening in the summer, visitors enjoyed meet and greet sessions with Care Bears mascots, Grumpy and Love-a-Lot, and local Thai artists, DICE and Kin.

"It’s incredible to watch the Care Bears Café become a beloved gathering spot in Bangkok,” says Charlotte Payne, director of international licensing, Cloudco Entertainment. “Opening this second location really shows how much people appreciate the Care Bears' enduring message of sharing and caring. This expansion not only strengthens our presence in the region but also deepens our connection with communities, fostering even more opportunities for joy and friendship.”

Related:Sanrio's Hello Kitty Reaches a Landmark Milestone

Hello Kitty and Friends Café at Hollywood's Universal City Walk

Food and Beverage Brands Embrace Fashion

Another popular F&B strategy the industry saw was F&B brands developing partnerships with companies active in apparel, footwear and accessories.

Kraft Heinz partnered with kate spade for a global limited-edition summer collection, the Red-Hot Capsule collection, that consisted of totes, pouches, leather goods, T-shirts, keychains, phone cases and more. It featured Heinz’s unmistakable red color and kate spade’s colorful and on-trend New York styles and was designed to elevate all of summer’s special moments.

Cheetos created a footwear collection with PUMA. This collection is still available and features a signature drop from Scoot Henderson, a basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers, called Scoot Zeros x Cheetos. The sneaker is composed of PUMA Hoops tech and blends Henderson’s personal mantra, “Overly Determined to Dominate (O.D.D),” with Cheeto’s iconic spots and orange colorway.

Alongside Cheetos, Pringles also produced a footwear collection. Pringles collaborated with Crocs to create three limited-edition Pringles-inspired Crocs which included Classic Crush Boots, Classic Clogs, Classic Slides and Jibbitz Charms. Having with worked with Hershey’s, Taco Bell and now Pringles, Crocs is a highly sought-after partner in the F&B space.

Some other notable fashion and F&B collaborations include Law Roach x Pepsi, Kate Spade x M&M and BoxLunch x KFC.

PUMA x Cheetos, IMG

Food and Beverage Brands Work Together

While the F&B space is growing, it’s also becoming more saturated and competitive. But in 2024, many F&B brands came together and utilized each other’s strengths and creativity to develop products that created buzz, responded to trends and allowed them to tap into each other’s audiences. For instance, Kraft Heinz partnered with Pilgrim’s Food Masters’ Richmond (an iconic U.K. sausage brand), to release new Heinz Beanz and Spaghetti with sausages. The two products were first offered as limited-edition purchases back in Oct. 2023. However, the companies received an enormous amount of positive feedback, and the two new products were made permanent additions to the Heinz portfolio in March.

The licensing industry also saw Taco Bell partner up with Cheez-It to produce the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme and Big Cheez-It Tostada. The Taco Bell Big Cheez-It Tostada featured a supersized Cheez-It cracker topped with seasoned beef, diced tomatoes, crisp lettuce, shredded cheese and cool reduced-fat sour cream. The Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme included seasoned beef, warm nacho cheese sauce, crisp lettuce, cool reduced-fat sour cream and diced tomatoes. But instead of a typical tostada shell, it was replaced with a Big Cheez-It cracker before being wrapped inside a grilled tortilla.

“This collaboration wasn’t just about bringing together two iconic brands; it was about taking the spirit of fan innovation to create something truly larger than life,” says Liz Matthews, global chief food innovation officer, Taco Bell.

The food creations were offered to Taco Bell Rewards Members in the Taco Bell app from May 30 through June 5, and then nationwide for all on June 6 for a limited time.

All in all, it was exciting year for F&B. In 2025, people can expect increased growth and more out-of-the-box collaborations. To be one of the first ones to experience these up-and-coming, unique F&B collaborations, be sure to attend Licensing Expo and Brand Licensing Europe in 2025.