Hula Hoops

Hula Hoops are a snack food made out of potatoes and corn in the shape of short, hollow cylinders. They are sold in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa. Hula Hoops are also sold in Belgium under the "Croky" tag, made in the UK but marketed and distributed from Mouscron, Belgium. In France Hula Hoops are produced by Vico. They were first introduced in 1973. Hula Hoops come in different flavours. They are made by parent company KP Snacks. In 2008, KP started a new variety made with corn, called 'Hula Hoops Tortilla', which come in Cool Original, Chilli Salsa, and Nacho Cheese flavours.[1]

This article is about the snack food. For the toy, see hula hoop.
A packet of Hula Hoops (original flavour)


Flavours and packet colours
  • BBQ Beef (Brown)
  • Cheese & Onion (Green)
  • Original (Red)
  • Roast Chicken (Mustard)
  • Salt & Vinegar (Blue)
  • Smoky Bacon (Purple)
  • Sour Cream and Chive (Dark Green)
  • Sweet Chilli (Pink)
  • Tikka (Deep Purple)
  • Crisp Roulette (Dark Red)
  • Tangy Cheese (Light Orange)

Former flavours

The following flavours were available for a short time either because they tied-in with special promotions, or failed to meet sales expectations:

  • Beef and Mustard (Black 'Big O's' & XL bag)
  • Cheese (Yellow)
  • Prawn Cocktail (Purple)
  • Tomato Ketchup (blue)
  • Vanilla Cream (Dark pink “ Crisp roulette bag)

Variations

Big O's

In 1998, KP launched 'Big O's'[2] from Hula Hoops, using Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse in their advertising campaign as their characters the Self-Righteous Brothers. Big O's were larger-than-normal Hula Hoops, packaged in larger bags and only available in Beef & Mustard flavour. The bag design used a black background featuring a large Big O's logo. A smaller Hula Hoops logo featured in the bottom-corner whilst the flavour was in the opposite bottom-corner. Big O's are no longer in production nor available.

Shoks

For a short while in the early 2000s, KP produced Hula Hoops Shoks[3][4] These were miniature versions of the classic Hula Hoop, but had a much more intense flavour than the bags. They were packaged in either a stiff flexible plastic cube, or in a small resealable pot. They were available in the following flavours:

  • Totally Cheesy (orange, cube)
  • Beef (brown, pot)
  • Pickled Onion (green, cube)
  • Sweet Chilli (pink, cube or pot)
  • Salt and Vinegar (blue, cube)
  • Rib and Saucy (purple, cube)

Hula Hoops XL

In 2001, KP launched Hula Hoops XL,[5] which were larger-than-normal Hula Hoops, much like the previous Big O's incarnation. They were packaged larger bags and were available in a limited range of flavours, but recorded poor sales and were soon dropped. Each bag was black with a large XL logo on the front, with the flavour overlaid. They were available in the following flavours:

  • Beef & Mustard
  • Chilli
  • Nacho cheese
  • Curry

Frozen Hula Hoops

In late 1999, KP produced Hula Hoops that could be cooked at home. Frozen Hula hoops were not a crisp based snack; they were more like Hash Browns. They began production again in 2013 as part of a range of frozen versions of crisps, this time exclusive to Iceland stores.[6]

Big Hoops

In 2011, XL had a successor with Big Hoops.[7] Essentially the same design as the XL range, they were targeted towards adults who had memories of placing regular sized hoops onto their fingers, but could no longer do so. They are currently available in £1 price marked packs (87.4g) and 'Grab Bag' impulse packs (50g)[8]. 160g bags were once available as well.[9] Big Hoops have been available in the following flavours:

  • Salted, formerly Original (Red)
  • Sour Cream & Chive (Dark Green) (discontinued)
  • Sweet Chilli (Pink) (discontinued)
  • BBQ Beef (Brown)
  • Chilli (Black) (discontinued)[10]
  • Spicy Chilli (Magenta)[8]

Flavourings

In May 2018, KP began production of Hula Hoops Flavourings[11] in both Salt and Vinegar and Tangy Cheese flavours. Flavarings are a larger ring than standard Hula Hoops, and are maize based rather than potato, leading to a different texture more like Monster Munch than traditional Hula Hoops.

Nutritional information

Each 25g bag of the original Hula Hoops contains around 129 calories. They also contain 0.8g of protein, 15.4g of carbohydrates, 7.1g of fat, 0.5g of fibre, and 0.2g of Sodium. These values vary between flavours.

Marketing slogans/formula
  • Now 55% less Saturated Fat - Same great taste.
  • Cooked with 100% Sunflower Oil.
  • Best ever flavour.
  • Amazing taste and satisfaction
  • Now no artificial flavours, colours, or MSG. Same great taste!

Charity

In 2010, Hula Hoops partnered with Sport Relief to organize mass hula hoop displays. The Hoopathons were on Sunday 21 March, and 1,388 people took part to set a Guinness World record-breaking largest number of people to hula-hoop simultaneously across the United Kingdom for two minutes.[12]

As a result of the Co-vid 19 pandemic, the distribution of Hula Hoops is limited in Asia, with regular distribution scheduled to proceed in October 2020.

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References
  1. http://www.talkingretail.com/products/product-news/10182-hula-hoops-launches-new-tortilla-range.html
  2. Hula Hoops: Big O's advert 1998 ( in LOUD OBNOXIOUS WIDESCREEN ), retrieved 2019-10-10
  3. http://snackspot.org.uk/thread.php?story=0311111305cas
  4. "Hula Hoops Shocks add".
  5. http://snackspot.org.uk/thread.php?story=1110022206cas
  6. "Luke Ynwa Shaw".
  7. http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=219778
  8. Cronin, Eilis (2018-02-26). "KP Snacks adds Spicy Chilli to Big Hoops range". Talking Retail. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
  9. "KP Hula Hoops Big Hoops Sweet Chilli". www.mysupermarket.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
  10. "Hula Hoops Big Hoops Chilli Flavour 96g". Approved Food. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
  11. "KP Snacks launches Hula Hoops Flavarings". 2018-05-04.
  12. "Hooray for Hula Hoops!". Sport Relief 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-03-30.
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