????如今，你可以“嚼”蛋糕，因為有生日蛋糕味的口香糖。或者，你也可以喝生日蛋糕味的白葡萄酒。或者在健康的水果奶昔里加生日蛋糕味的蛋白質。

????盡管生日一年就一次，越來越多的公司——其中包括家樂氏（Kellogg's）、瑪氏（Mars）、Mondelez和帝亞吉歐（Diageo）)，認定消費者全年都會購買生日蛋糕味的產品。

????瑪氏的生日蛋糕味M&M糖5月份就正式上市了。Mondelez旗下品牌奧利奧（Oreo）也在出售兩種有生日蛋糕味夾心的餅干。還有生日派對蛋糕味Peeps棉花糖和冰激凌蛋糕味Smirnoff伏特加，以及肌肉牛奶蛋白粉和六重矩陣蛋白粉。

????“每天的市場規模就達100萬，”NPD Group副總裁兼首席行業分析師亨利?巴澤爾表示，他認為公司把希望寄托在這些可靠的、人們慶祝生日的這部分業務，以及人們喜歡慶祝有特殊意義的時刻。“我們喜歡新體驗，我們都是探索者。”

????其他人，像趨勢跟蹤公司Mintel的創新與洞察力總監林?多恩布拉瑟則表示，更為重要的是在生日之外的那364天與客戶建立聯系，這些日子消費者也會渴望“生日蛋糕味”的產品或者只是想嘗試一下新鮮的東西。

????無論是哪種情況，食品公司都認為，它們已經找到了“甜點”。據多恩布拉瑟稱，過去3年進入市場的“生日蛋糕味”產品數量至今已翻了3倍。

????但是，如今很多美國人都傾向于無麩質或有機飲食，為什么這種傳統的、過甜的口味依然如此火爆呢？

????市場調查公司Innova Market Insights創新總監盧?安?威廉姆斯解釋說，這個市場在不斷成長，但仍然非常小。他還表示，蛋糕味“立即產生慶祝的感覺與快樂”。那為什么這種有趣的味道直到現在才走上美國人的餐桌，或者至少直到現在才在食品行業才暫露頭角？原因和其他趨勢一樣有點神秘。

????多恩布拉瑟表示，生日蛋糕味是跟隨了時尚味道的典型軌跡——通過不常見的產品類別和小眾品牌產品而開始流行，之后被一些主流的食品公司效仿。

????2002年，Mintel首次開始跟蹤這些新產品時，大多數生日蛋糕味的產品還都不是食品，而是居家和美容產品，如蠟燭、空氣清新劑和潤唇膏等。

????10年后，可能是受到最近“紙杯蛋糕熱潮”（生日蛋糕也流行紅絲絨蛋糕，Pop-Tart餅干提供這兩種口味的餅干）的推動，生日蛋糕味的發展勢頭也得到了提振。它一開始是用在Wells Blue Bunny的冰淇淋上，按照多恩布拉瑟的說法，它很可能是“生日蛋糕味”的突破性產品。生日蛋糕的成功引來了許多“派對蛋糕味”的冷凍新奇產品，之后是烘焙產品、糖果和烈性酒。無論如何，在為即將到來的“生日蛋糕味”M&M糖舉行的新品發布會上，瑪氏公司稱生日蛋糕為“市場上最火的味道”。

????雖然多恩布拉瑟預測這種味道仍然有市場，但她說當一種味道變得越來越普遍，無處不在的時候，它就會逐漸消失。比如，之前當她看到市場上出現低碳水化合物橡皮糖時就知道低碳水化合物熱潮已經退卻。同樣，當生日蛋糕味融入美食的時候，就預示著它的時代即將過去。

????很多食品公司都選擇將“生日蛋糕味”的產品作為一種限量版產品推出，并且常常跟公司的大型活動或周年紀念日聯系在一起。“生日蛋糕味”的奧利奧最初就是在2012年這個品牌的100周年慶典上推出的。

????短期的產品效應固然會引起轟動，而且也迎合了消費者喜歡嘗試新產品和口味的要求，但不大可能會成為一種習慣性的消費。

????多恩布拉瑟表示，雖然“生日蛋糕味”的“保質期”仍還不確定，但目前這種味道證明在女性消費者中尤其受歡迎。

????口香糖和薄荷糖公司Project 7創始人Tyler Merrick已經增加了一些風味產品以跟上潮流，同時希望能在不斷下滑的口香糖市場中脫穎而出。今年早些時候，他推出了幾個非傳統的口味，其中包括薄荷朱利酒味、酸橙椰子味，當然，還有必不可少的生日蛋糕味。(財富中文網)

????Now you can have your cake and chew it too, thanks to birthday cake-flavored gum. Or drink it, with birthday cake batter white wine. Or add a birthday cake-flavored protein to a health shake.

????Though it comes only once a year, an increasing number of food and beverage companies -- Kellogg's (K), Mars, Mondelez (MDLZ), and Diageo (DEO) among them -- are betting customers will buy birthday cake-flavored products year-round.

????Mars' birthday cake M&Ms will officially hit stores in May. Oreo, a Mondelez brand, sells two cookies with a birthday cake-flavored filling. There are also party cake Peeps and iced cake-flavored Smirnoff vodka, and protein powders from Muscle Milk and Syntha-6.

????"Every day there's a market of a million," says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst and vice president at NPD Group, who believes companies are banking on the reliable, people-celebrating-birthdays segment, and the fact that people like to jazz up the occasion with something special. "We like new experiences, we're all explorers."

????Others, like Lynn Dornblaser, director of innovation and insight at trend-tracking firm Mintel, say it's more about connecting with customers the other 364 days of the year, when they crave the birthday cake flavor or just want to try something new.

????Whatever the case, food companies think they've hit a sweet spot. According to Dornblaser, the number of birthday cake-flavored products introduced to the market in the past three years has tripled. But at a time when many Americans are going gluten-free and organic, why has this classic, overly sugary flavor become so hot?

????Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights, notes the market is growing but still tiny and says the cake flavor brings "an instant feeling of celebration and fun." But why this fun flavor has seized upon American palettes, or at least the food industry's imagination just now, remains, like most trends, a bit of a mystery.

????Dornblaser says birthday cake has followed the typical trajectory of trendy flavors -- rising in popularity through oddball categories and niche brand products before being picked up by major food companies.

????When Mintel first started tracking new products in 2002, most birthday cake items were not foods, but goods used in homecare and beauty, such as candles, air fresheners, and lip gloss.

????Ten years later and possibly helped along by the recent cupcake craze (red velvet is also trending with birthday cake, and both are available as Pop-Tart flavors), birthday cake has gained momentum. It was used in Wells Blue Bunny ice cream, which Dornblaser says was likely the flavor's breakthrough product. Birthday cake's success helped usher in a number of party cake-flavored frozen novelty products, and then baked goods, candy, and spirits. For what it's worth, in a release about the upcoming Birthday M&Ms product launch, Mars Inc. calls birthday cake the "hottest flavor craze on the market."

????Though Dornblaser anticipates the flavor still has legs -- a Greek yogurt product would not surprise her -- she says trending flavors tend to peter out when they become widely, and too wildly used. She knew the low-carb craze was dead when she saw low-carb gummy products on the market and says birthday cake's moment will be over when it gets incorporated into savory foods.

????Many food companies are hedging their bets by introducing birthday cake-flavored items as limited edition offerings that are often tied to a company event or anniversary. Oreo's products were initially launched in 2012 in celebration of the cookie's 100th birthday.

????Short-term products have the benefit of buzz and cater to consumers that like to try new products and flavors twists, but are unlikely to make them a regular habit.

????While the shelf life of birthday cake is still uncertain, for now the flavor is proving popular especially among women, says Dornblaser.

????Tyler Merrick, the founder of Project 7, a gum and mint company that donates to social causes, has added a line of flavored products to jump on the trend and hopes to stand out in a declining gum market. Earlier this year he introduced a handful of non-traditional flavors. Among them: mint julep, coconut lime, and, of course, birthday cake.