Swicy Doubles Down in Dairy

 

As temperatures cool (finally, many of us are likely saying), flavor continues to heat up, even in dairy. Sweet and spicy pairings have existed for centuries and can be found in cuisines all around the world. One of the attractions is that sweetness--from caloric carbohydrates, not non-nutritive sweeteners--helps tame the kick of capsaicin, the chemical compound in peppers that delivers fiery flavor. That’s because sugar coats the taste buds, while capsaicin binds to them. By mellowing the perception of heat with sugar, the consumer can better taste the complexity of the pepper as well as the carrier food.  

This week, The Kraft Heinz Company got swicy with the introduction of Philadelphia Mike’s Hot Honey Whipped Cream Cheese. The new spread swirls the iconic sweet heat of Mike’s Hot Honey into Philadelphia’s light and fluffy whipped cream cheese, bringing a little kick to everything from bagels and charcuterie boards to pizza. Available exclusively at Walmart now, the new flavor will expand to additional retailers beginning in January 2027.

Other soon-to-be-released flavors from the brand include seasonal Cranberry Orange and permanent-edition Salted Caramel.

Philadelphia has been part of the hot honey journey from the start, with founder Mike Kurtz using the brand’s cream cheese as a canvas for his creation. More than 15 years later, nearly half of consumers have tried hot honey, led by millennials and Gen Z, and sweet-and-spicy flavors have surged nearly 230% on menus over the past four years, according to Datassential. Now, the pairing that helped introduce consumers to hot honey is becoming official.

“When I was first building the brand, I used to sample our hot honey on bricks of Philadelphia cream cheese to show people just how delicious and versatile the combination could be,” said Kurtz. “To now bring that pairing to life in a partnership with Philadelphia feels like a full-circle moment. Together, we worked closely to get the balance of creamy, sweet heat just right.”

Aldi recently introduced limited-time Park St. Deli Hot Honey Pepperoni to its refrigerated dairy dip lineup. Cream cheese is the first ingredient. 

Honey plays a central role in building flavor and functionality in new Bezi Hot Honey Labneh. The honey-forward innovation is making its debut in the natural and specialty foods space. It is a thick, tangy and creamy Middle Eastern “yogurt cheese” made by straining whey from yogurt until it reaches a rich, spreadable, cream cheese-like consistency. 

This is not just a U.S. trend. The Boursin brand from Bel Brands is bringing the hot honey trend to the indulgent cheese fixture with the launch of a limited-edition Hot Honey & Roasted Garlic variant in the U.K. 

“Hot honey is a flavor combination that has gained significant momentum, so we saw a clear opportunity to bring that sweet-meets-heat profile into indulgent cheese in a way that feels unmistakably Boursin,” said Ollie Richmond, marketing manager at Boursin.

Explore The National Honey Board’s 2026 Queen’s Choice Awards top new product innovations with honey. Link HERE for the winners.

Here’s something else to understand about capsaicin. It is soluble in fat. This is why dairy foods make an excellent carrier. Milkfat helps mellow the heat of chilis, enabling their flavor to come through. This complements the shift among consumers away from extreme heat toward more approachable flavor-building heat. They want spice and heat, but they want it balanced. Fruit-forward heat is also gaining traction. This presents formulators with an opportunity to source ingredients that layer detectable flavors with heat. 

The concentration of capsaicin in chili peppers is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). This was originally determined using a test that measured the degree to which a chili pepper solution must be diluted before capsaicin was no longer detectable to a professional taster. Today SHU is determined in a less subjective test called high-performance liquid chromatography, which measures capsaicin content. Pure capsaicin tops out the Scoville scale at 16,000,000 SHU. 

To compare, bell peppers, which are part of the Capsicum genus yet lack capsaicin, score zero on the Scoville scale, while ancho peppers, also known as poblanos, are 1,000 to 2,000 SHU. Chipotles and jalapenos range from 2,500 to 10,000 SHU. Guajillos are dried mirasol chilies, which are only about 2,500 to 5,000 SHU. Pasillas are even milder, at 1,000 to 2,500 SHU. 

Chili peppers possess flavor, but depending on their degree of heat, the flavor may not get tasted by the consumer. Because consumers vary in their threshold for heat, some might taste flavors while others do not. 

Common flavorful chili peppers include chipotles, which are made by smoking and drying jalapenos; thereby, having a woodsy, smoky flavor. Anchos possess a rich, dark cherry and raisin sweetness. Guajillos boast a moderately spicy, tangy flavor with a touch of citrus while pasillas have a unique, complex flavor that starts out like prune and finishes with a hint of licorice.

There are a number of varieties of habanero peppers, ranging from little to no heat to fiery hot (500,000-plus SHU), which makes them so popular, as they can be blended together or with other ingredients to develop unique flavor profiles. In general, habaneros possess a fruity, citrusy flavor, which is why they are often paired with fruits, with mango being the most common. 

At 800,000 to 1,000,000-plus SHU the Bhut Jolokia pepper, also known as ghost pepper, was certified as the hottest chili pepper on the planet in The Guinness Book of World Records in 2007, but no longer holds that title. As of August 2013, the Carolina Reaper, which can be as hot as 2,200,000 SHU holds the title. There are also more than 10 other peppers that have since been identified that are hotter than the ghost pepper. As you can imagine, with such hot peppers, the human palate can only experience the heat. These peppers contribute no flavor to food applications. 

It's time to heat up dairy! Then mellow that heat with a touch of honey!