BeaverTails partners with Kraft Dinner for summer menu
The Ottawa pastry icon is serving KD-topped hot dogs and poutine this summer in its latest quirky collaboration.
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BeaverTails announced a partnership with Kraft Dinner this week, rolling out two limited-time items for the summer: the KD Takeover BeaverDog—a hot dog wrapped in BeaverTail pastry and topped with Kraft Dinner and ketchup—and the KD Takeover Poutine, a Canadian twist featuring the iconic orange pasta.
Tina Serrao, creative director at the Ottawa-based company for three decades, said the collaboration fits BeaverTails' philosophy. "We have four words: Canadian, ritual, authentic and quirky," she told Ottawa Business Journal. "Those are what we live and die by. So the quirky part … everything we do always has a little bit of a twist. Why can't we have fun and play?"
BeaverTails, founded in 1978, has built its reputation on word-of-mouth rather than traditional advertising. Serrao said the company discovered early on that paying for ads didn't move the needle—people trying a BeaverTail once became loyal customers without any billboard campaign.
That approach extends to product innovation. Instead of chasing food industry trends, Serrao looks outside the world of food entirely. "It's really hard to not follow the trend, but the minute you do, all you are is the trend. We make our own trends," she said. Over the years, the company has experimented with maple-bacon pastries, fried chicken on fried dough, and limited flavours like the Cherry B and Blue Nomster. Past partnerships have included Koolaid-coloured icings and collaborations with Polar Ice Vodka and White Water Brewery on alcoholic products.