Just in time for the Super Bowl, Wingstop and PopUp Bagels are teaming up on a schmear.
The Dallas-based fast-casual chicken chain is known for its lemon pepper-flavored wings. It’s one of the top flavor picks, described as citrusy with a pepper-forward kick.
For a limited time starting Jan. 29, the 23-unit PopUp Bagel chain is offering a Lemon Pepper Schmear made with Wingstop’s seasoning.
In the increasingly crowded world of marketing collaborations, or collabs, this one stands out.
Restaurant chains have long tapped the (often rabid) fan base of retail products. Taco Bell, for example, is a CPG collab specialist, going back to the days of the (game-changing in 2012) Doritos Locos Tacos. Even this week, Taco Bell is debuting a new Hidden Valley Diablo Ranch Sauce.
But it’s not so common to see national restaurant chains share their proprietary flavors with other restaurant chains.
Michael Skipworth, Wingstop’s president and CEO, said in a statement that the move brings two viral brands together.
“This collaboration lets fans take their obsession with one of the most iconic flavors in our lineup from a morning bagel straight to their wing order,” he said.
Adam Goldberg, founder of PopUp Bagels, added that PopUp “doesn’t collaborate just to collaborate,” but that Wingstop’s lemon pepper flavor is instantly recognizable.
“The fun for us was figuring out how to translate it into a schmear that actually works on a hot bagel and fits naturally into our Grip, Rip and Dip experience,” he said.
Based in New York City, PopUp Bagels has pioneered a new way of eating bagels. Rather than offering them sliced, guests are invited to rip the hot bagels with their hands and dip the bread into various schmears, which are offered in rotating, and often imaginative, flavors.
The franchised chain is growing at a rapid clip, with about 50 units expected to open this year. Mostly on the East Coast, PopUp opened its first West Coast location in Los Angeles last month—where, it should be noted, the unit featured a limited-time Matcha Cream Cheese schmear collab with the local coffeeshop La La Land.
And though Wingstop is the largest restaurant chain to be featured on PopUp’s schmear lineup, the bagel brand has featured smaller restaurant concepts in the past.
PopUp once featured a Greenlane Goddess Cream Cheese in collaboration with the salad drive-thru Greenlane, for example.
And PopUp has tapped many retail brands, from a Kraft Mac & Cheese-inspired “mac & cream cheese,” to Ocean Spray Cranberry Butter and a schmear flavored with Grillo’s Pickles.
Now that the door has opened to other restaurant brands, however, it remains to be seen what might come next. Will we see an Arby’s Horsey Sauce schmear, a Chick-fil-A Sauce butter or even a McDonald’s Hot Apple Pie spread?
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