National Trail Mix Day
Go for the classic, or check out the bulk bins for a mix of nuts, fruits, and chocolate to craft your own trail mix, from cashews to filberts, craisins to apricots.
Drive August sales of nuts, dried fruits, and snack components by positioning trail mix as a DIY, customizable, health-conscious snack for outdoor enthusiasts and everyday consumers.
- Build Your Perfect Trail Mix: Share customizable recipes and ingredient combinations for different taste preferences and dietary needs
- Trail Mix Challenge: Encourage followers to create and share their unique trail mix recipes on social media with branded hashtags
- Stock Your Pantry: Promote bulk bins, individual nut/fruit/seed products, and pre-made trail mix options in-store and online
- Adventure Ready: Position trail mix as the essential snack for hikers, campers, and outdoor activities this summer
Some people claim that trail mix was invented in the late 1960s by two surfers in California who needed a quick and easy snack to provide protein and energy. They started by mixing peanuts with raisins, which some people refer to as G.O.R.P., short for “Good Old Raisins and Peanuts”. Since that time and with just those two ingredients, trail mix has certainly come a very long way!
National Trail Mix Day is celebrated on this day each year, showing some love for the simplicity of this helpful and delicious snack that keeps many hikers, and just average people, going while they are spending time enjoying the great outdoors.
Make (and Eat!) Some Trail Mix
Trail mix is such a delightful snack to make because it really doesn’t require a recipe at all. Celebrate National Trail Mix Day by mixing up a batch! It can be hand-crafted, tailored to whatever the person making it wants it to taste like. Many people just make it with whatever they happen to have on hand, but some suggestions may offer a helpful guideline for folks who have never made it before. Here are some of the basic components of trail mix: Nuts. Peanuts, almonds, cashews and pecans are all delicious nuts, but many people make their trail mix heavy on the peanuts as they are usually the most inexpensive of the nuts. The nuts used in trail mix are usually roasted and salted. Dried Fruit. Raisins are fairly traditional for trail mix, but dried cranberries, goji fruit, cherries, bananas, papaya, pineapple, apricots and so many other delightful flavors can be combined. Seeds. Pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds and many others can work to add a healthful and tasty punch to that trail mix. Sweets. Some people like to add a little bit of sweetness to their trail mix by putting in some chocolate chips, M&M’s chocolate candies or other bite sized candy bits. Obviously, this adds a bit of empty calories to the batch, so the more healthful mix recipes won’t include this.
Take a Hike on a Trail (with Trail Mix!)
One of the best things about trail mix is its extreme portability and the fact that it is filled with a balanced amount of energy that is both instant and long-term. So grab a container of a favorite blend of trail mix and get out on those trails. After all, that’s where the name came from, so celebrate National Trail Mix by getting out into nature and taking a hike!