Forget Spinach, Popeye Is Selling Two Real Pick-Me-Ups: Coffee and Hot Sauce

Forget Spinach, Popeye Is Selling Two Real Pick-Me-Ups: Coffee and Hot Sauce

By Mike Pomranz | FoodAndWine.Com

Troy Warren for CNT #Foodie

The products can be purchased from the famed cartoon sailor’s new online store.

To say that Popeye’s culinary preferences are one-note is an understatement: He even references spinach in his theme song despite the lyrics constituting a mere three lines. This guy loves his spinach. But when it comes to promoting other products, Popeye has proven more than happy to play the field. The comic character has plugged everything from Dr. Pepper to Campbell’s Chunky Soup.

And after 90-plus years (Popeye celebrated his 90th birthday in 2019) the sailor’s promotional power is apparently still going strong. He’s just been tapped to launch a new line of non-spinach products that can still put some spring in your step: coffee and hot sauce.

Yesterday, King Features Syndicate which owns the rights to Popeye, and Jade City Foods debuted a new “high-end Popeye & Friends-inspired” collection.

Popeye Signature Hot Sauces arrive in four varieties: Popeye’s “Strong to the Finish Hot Sauce” (Jalapeño Spinach), Eugene the Jeep’s “Jeep! Jeep! Magic Hot Sauce” (Pineapple Habanero), Wimpy’s “I’ll Gladly Pay You Tuesday for Some Burger Sauce Today” (Sweet & Smokey Sriracha), and Bluto’s “You Can’t Handle My Hot Sauce, Runt!” (Reaper, Scorpion & Ghost Peppers).

Meanwhile, Popeye Signature Coffee is being sold in three blends: Olive Oyl’s “I’m Too Kind-Hearted Blend,” billed as a clean and fruity light roast; Bluto’s “No Good Sailor Blend,” said to be a “bombastic and balanced” medium roast; and Popeye’s “Blow Me Down Blend!,” described as a “courageously strong” dark roast.

Not enough Popeye for you? Well, Jade City Foods says they’re not done. On Black Friday, they’re adding even more stuff: three hot cocoa blends — “Sea-Salty Sailor Salted Caramel,” “Goo-Goo Gooey Chocolate,” and “‘Oh, Dear!’ Peppermint” — as well as a limited-edition ghost pepper hot sauce, “Bruiser Boys Club” (Ghost Pepper Blueberry Hot Sauce).

“Popeye has always been a love of mine from the early Fleischer cartoons to more recent IDW comics,” Jade City founder Cliff Wiener said in the announcement. “It’s really fun to dig in and create foods inspired by the characters we know and love.”

“The Jade City team knows good food and they really connect with the Popeye brand,” Jarred Goro, King Features’ vice president of North America licensing, stated. “Their focus on delivering top quality products that taste good paired with their creative approach to the development process — from ingredient selection to packaging — makes them the perfect partner to release this unique line of hot sauce flavors and signature coffee blends.”

Admittedly, it feels like a lot of Popeye, especially for products that I wouldn’t necessarily associate with the character. But hey, if you are going to go Popeye, you might as well go all in!

Everything can be bought either now or after its Black Friday release at the new online store, Popeye.com.

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By Troy Warren

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