That’s what Adin Wener, co-founder of Toronto soda company Solly’s Craft Soda, wants you to do before deciding whether the latest KD collaboration belongs in the fridge or the garbage.
asserted
collaboration → ’ → fridge
The collaboration between Kraft Dinner and Wener’s company launched on Sept. 23.
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collaboration → launch → Sept.
“I just want people to judge it after they’ve tried it,” said Wener, who is also the co-founder of Henderson Brewing Company in the Junction.
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who → want → Junction
Just make sure it’s cold when you have it.”
It’s why Wener asked me to meet him at Summerhill Market in Rosedale on a Friday morning.
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Wener → make → morning
With permission from store management, I grabbed a can of KD Cream Soda from the refrigerated shelf, cracked it open in front of the KD display and took a drink while Wener waited for my reaction.
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Wener → grab → reaction
I’ve had my share of stunt sodas over the years, including Jones’ poutine-flavoured soda, which was unfortunately very faithful to the flavours advertised.
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which → have → flavours
I’ve also had Burdock Brewery’s kimchi water that was fine.
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that → have → water
Mountain Dew had a Flamin’ Hot flavour a few years ago that was a forgettable lemon-lime with a mild burn.
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that → have → burn
So where does Solly’s soda stand?
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soda → stand → ?
The predominant flavour is cream soda with relatively restrained sweetness rather than carbonated cheese sauce.
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flavour → carbonate → sauce
After a few sips, a very faint savoury, slightly cheesy aroma and aftertaste emerges, but only if you’re paying attention.
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you → emerge → attention
It’s subtle enough that I could see the soda working alongside food rather than competing with it.
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soda → ’ → it
I finished the can and ended up buying four more for friends and family to try.
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friends → finish → four
At Summerhill Market, one of the stores in the GTA currently stocking it, they were $3.99 a can or $10 for four cans.
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they → stock → cans
Wener initially reached out to the Kraft Heinz Company a year ago at the encouragement of his youngest son (and Solly’s sales manager), Jordan.
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Wener → reach → son
The idea was to do a collaboration to stand out among the increasingly saturated craft soda market.
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idea → do → market
In Ontario alone, smaller brands such as The County Bounty Artisanal Soda Co., Barbet, Muskoka Springs and City Seltzer compete alongside larger names like Brio, Clearly Canadian and The Pop Shoppe.
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brands → compete → Brio
“The parameters we defined for ourselves was that it had to have KD qualities,” Wener said.
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Wener → define → qualities
“We’re not going to put that into the taste, but we decided early on to go with that cheese smell.
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we → go → smell
He didn’t want Solly’s, which is named after one of his sons, to become known for putting out a gross-tasting novelty product.
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which → want → product
“I’m putting my family’s product on the line, so it had to taste good,” he said.
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he → put → line
Solly’s also had its own requirements: low sugar, 35 to 45 calories, prebiotic ingredients and all-natural flavours.
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Solly → have → requirements
Because Wener didn’t want his soda to taste carbonated can of sugar and cheese powder, he opted for a more neutral cream soda base and then worked with the team at Kraft-Heinz to layer some essence du fromage in to it.
“
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he → want → it
You work with a flavour house to recreate the cheesiness of KD, but then you have to have this balance where it’s drinkable and has some residual sweetness and tastes like a cream soda.”
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it → work → soda
Solly’s KD Cream Soda is the latest in a string of collaborations Kraft Dinner has done with other Canadian food companies.
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Dinner → do → companies
In May, Etobicoke bakery San Remo released a KD cheesecake.
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Remo → release → cheesecake
Beavertails announced it was topping its poutine and hotdog with KD, while Booster Juice’s KD smoothie was one of the most talked-about food offerings at this year’s CNE.
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smoothie → announce → CNE
“Initial surprise is part of the fun,” Kelly Fleming, Kraft Heinz’s Canadian chief marketing officer, wrote in an email when asked why the company pursues these kinds of collaborations rather than pairing KD with products such as potato chips or crackers, where cheese flavour would be more expected.
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flavour → write → chips
“It’s a huge checkmark for our little startup soda brand, which can give a lot of confidence to consumers and retailers across the country that we could work with one of the largest food companies in the world,” Wener said.
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Wener → ’ → world
“There were tons of checkmarks and quality control marks we had to hit.
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we → be → checkmarks
Kraft-Heinz wasn’t going to put their signature product on something that doesn’t hold up.
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that → go → something
In addition to Summerhill Market, the soda can be found at Fiesta Farms, Henderson’s flagship store in the Junction, as well as restaurants at Pearson Airport such as The Hearth and Fionn McCool’s (it’s also on Solly’s own webstore).
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it → find → webstore
On a larger scale, it’s hitting Walmart shelves nationwide as well as London Drugs on the West Coast in October.
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it → hit → October
So those hoping for a can of effervescent cheese sauce will be disappointed that the soda doesn’t go to that extreme.
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soda → hop → extreme
But on the bright side, it’s a perfectly fine and drinkable soda that will score you some cool uncle points when you give one to your niece.
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you → ’ → niece
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