SPAM adds Hot Honey as its first permanent new flavor in two years, splitting fans

Hot honey has conquered pizza, potato chips, and bacon. Now it has come for the blue can. Hormel this week launched SPAM Hot Honey, the brand's first permanent flavor addition in two years, riding the 'swicy' — sweet and spicy — wave that has been sweeping grocery shelves and restaurant menus.

The new variety joins a lineup of more than 10 existing SPAM flavors and is available now at select grocery retailers nationwide. Hormel is framing it as both a flavor play and a cultural one, pairing the launch with a collaboration with Win Son Bakery, a Taiwanese-American café with locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan's East Village.

SPAM Hot Honey taps into one of today's fastest-growing flavor trends, giving longtime fans and new audiences alike another reason to reach for the iconic blue can. The SPAM brand has an enduring, decades-long connection with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and cuisine, and 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.— Stephanie Swift, Brand Manager, SPAM

Through September 20, Win Son Bakery is serving two limited-edition items built around the new flavor: a breakfast sandwich made with SPAM Hot Honey, egg, and cheese on a scallion pancake, and a fan tuan — a traditional Taiwanese sticky rice roll. Both are available at the bakery's Brooklyn and Manhattan locations. Win Son Bakery's website and physical locations are also selling a co-branded merchandise capsule — a streetwear-inspired collection that includes a T-shirt, hat, and tote bag.

This SPAM collaboration felt like a genuine extension of the food we grew up with and the food we serve every day. 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, and to share it with fans who already love both brands.— Trigg Brown, Co-owner and Chef, Win Son Bakery

Win Son Bakery was opened in Brooklyn in 2019 by Trigg Brown and Josh Ku, the duo behind the Williamsburg restaurant Win Son, with pastry chef Danielle Spencer. According to Hormel Foods, Brown and Ku also share authorship of 'Win Son Presents a Taiwanese American Cookbook' with Cathy Erway.

Public reaction has been divided. On Facebook, some welcomed the new variety — 'I'd give it a shot,' wrote one user; 'I try every new Spam that comes out,' said another. But others were unmoved. One self-described Spam purist said the original remains the only flavor worth having: 'I'm still a fan of just the original flavor.' Another hedged before declining — 'Sweet and Spicy may taste good fried, but I will have to pass' — while a third rejected the concept outright: 'Absolutely NOT in any flavor.' Over on Reddit, at least one user said the ingredient itself has worn out its welcome: 'So tired of this hot honey trend everywhere.'

Hormel launched SPAM in 1937, and the product rose to widespread prominence during World War II, when Allied troops were supplied with more than 100 million pounds of it, according to Fox News Digital. With more than 9 billion cans sold around the world since then, the brand retains a particularly strong following in Hawaii and parts of Asia.

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minnesota, reported over $12 billion in annual revenue and owns more than 30 brands including Planters, Skippy, Jennie-O, and Applegate, according to the company. SPAM Hot Honey is the latest product in a broader industry pattern of brands attaching themselves to the hot honey moment — a trend that has already produced hot honey sauces, chips, and bacon across the grocery aisle.

Why it matters — SPAM Hot Honey marks a deliberate move by an 89-year-old brand to court younger and Asian American audiences through a trendy flavor and a culturally specific partnership — a test of whether legacy food brands can authentically tap into food-culture moments without alienating their core buyers.

Reported by foxnews.com, hormelfoods.com, allrecipes.com