Six months ago, we brought you "The Hybrid Hype: What Is It All About?" where we analyzed why the CronutTM was heralding two-hour lines when the same pastry down the road barely gained a glance. The main reasons the CronutTM seemed to garner so much interest was dissected down to three main points: 1) It was a unique, never-seen-before product, 2) it had a loyal following attracted through social media and, 3) it was a limited time offer, creating exclusivity. The original CronutTM by Dominique Ansel was handcrafted one year ago and since, thousands of imitators have fallen short … at least in the eyes of pastry chefs. While Ansel knew what he was doing when he delicately combined the donut with a croissant, the copycats have left us wondering: are hybrids messing with the integrity of pastry itself?
It seems that ever since the launch of the CronutTM, businesses have been scrambling to come up with an imitation or something even more out-there in the hopes that such a buzz would move from Ansel's bakery to their own. This has resulted in some successes but mostly half-baked ideas that do the total opposite of what a hybrid represents: the bringing together of two or more decadent items, perfectly complementing one another without changing the characteristics of either. Between sweet grilled cheese sandwiches and mint chocolate chip potato chips, it's evident that business owners are not creating well-thought out items with complementary flavors and textures, but instead mashing together two unrelated foods for attention that leads to a sale.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: PreGel AMERICA
