Hormel Foods' SPAM brand is adding Hot Honey as a full-time flavor — its first new permanent variety in recent memory — and staging the launch around a week-long foodservice activation with Win Son Bakery, the Taiwanese-American café with locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan's East Village.

The new SKU is on shelf now at select grocery retailers nationwide, targeting the sweet-heat trend that has reshaped condiment, snack, and protein categories over the past several years. By anchoring the retail launch to a credible restaurant partner, Hormel is using a well-worn but effective playbook: let operators demonstrate the ingredient's versatility before consumers encounter it at retail.

The Menu Activation

Through September 20, Win Son Bakery is featuring two limited-edition items built around the new flavor. The first is a breakfast sandwich — SPAM Hot Honey, egg, and cheese served on Win Son's signature scallion pancake. The second is a fan tuan, a Taiwanese sticky rice roll, incorporating the sweet-and-spicy canned meat. Both items are available at the bakery's Brooklyn and Manhattan locations for the duration of the pop-up window. For operators and restaurant menu developers watching trend diffusion, the pairing of a mass-market pantry staple with an acclaimed independent bakery is a signal of how ingredient brands are increasingly seeking cultural authenticity over pure volume reach.

"This SPAM collaboration felt like a genuine extension of the food we grew up with and the food we serve every day," said Trigg Brown, co-owner and chef of Win Son Bakery. "Building a breakfast sandwich and a fan tuan around SPAM Hot Honey gave us a fun new way to put our own spin on that connection."

Stephanie Swift, brand manager for the SPAM brand, framed the partnership around the brand's long-standing ties to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities: "Partnering with Win Son Bakery to introduce this flavor felt like a natural, authentic way to get out of the can and into the kitchen."

Beyond the Restaurant

The collaboration extends into merchandise — a co-branded capsule of streetwear-inspired pieces including a T-shirt, hat, and tote bag, available via Win Son Bakery's website and in-store at both locations. Limited-edition merch drops tied to food brands have become a reliable engagement mechanism, bridging culinary culture and lifestyle branding in ways that resonate with younger urban consumers.

The SPAM brand recipe for the scallion pancake breakfast sandwich is also published on spam.com for home cooks and foodservice operators looking to adapt the concept. That kind of recipe content serves a dual purpose: consumer inspiration and a subtle pitch to foodservice buyers who track food and beverage industry trends for menu R&D.

For Hormel Foods, which reported over $12 billion in annual revenue across a portfolio that includes Planters, Skippy, Applegate, and Jennie-O, SPAM Hot Honey represents a targeted bet on one of foodservice's most durable recent flavor arcs. Hot honey has moved steadily from specialty pizzerias into mainstream QSR menus and retail aisles — adding it as a permanent variety rather than a limited-edition run signals Hormel's confidence in sustained consumer demand.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.