Alright folks we are live! We witnessed madness the first weekend of play for the Symrise Ice Cream Flavor Madness Bracket. If you are just joining us, refer to our introductory article for rules and field of flavors. Otherwise let’s continue below to our in-game analysis.
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Natural Goodness Region
Number 1 seed Vanilla defended its home town region against underdog #16 Saffron Honey Lemon. A #1 Vanilla victory was expected as vanilla is the number one selling ice cream in the U.S. for 2019 (idfa.org). Sticking with Vanilla we saw #5 Vanilla Caramel beat out fellow #12 Vanilla Cardamom as sweet caramel prevails.
A top match up of this round was #10 Triple Fudge Crunch vs #7 Caramel Pecan where #10 Triple Fudge Crunch won handily. Not so many surprises rounding out the group with advancements from #8 Mixed Berry, #4 Tiramisu, #2 Salted Caramel and #11 Cream Cheese. Cream Cheese may come as a surprise to some but Symrise was prepared for this as our 2019 Top Trends Report called out Cheese Expands and our 2018 report calls out Cheese in Ice Cream. 
The Healthy Lifestyle region gave us some heart racing fun.
• #1 Cookies & Cream steam rolled through #16 Black Walnut
• #8 Dark Chocolate beats #9 Guava
• #7Hazelnut beats #10 Black Sesame
• #14 Maple Bacon upsets #3 Horchata
• #15 Pineapple Coconut upsets #2 Cherry
Pineapple Coconut as an upset can be explained from our Trendscope Emotional Discoveries Mega trend where we see bold and funky hybrid flavors and flavor transitions such as pineapple coconut.
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Premium Indulgence Region
• #9 Peanut Butter Caramel Pretzel easily defeated #8 Strawberry Banana
• #6 Raspberry defeats #11 Acai Berry
• #1 Chocolate beats #16 Passionfruit Rose
• #13 Churro upsets #4 Fudge
#13 Churro comes as a bit of an upset against a traditional fan favorite, however we at Symrise have data to support the upset. Our Sabor in America Initiative, where we explored Latino influence of flavors in North America, gave us the insight that Hispanic House Holds are on the rise in the U.S. at a rate of 150%. 
Emotional Discoveries Region
• #1 Strawberry beat #16 French Toast (will face #8 Vanilla Rainbow Sprinkles next)
• #12 Raspberry Cheesecake upsets #5 Coconut (will face powerhouse #4 Rocky Road next)
• #3 Peanut Butter defeats #14 Ginger Chai
• #2 Mint Chocolate breezes past #15 Hibiscus
That is it for this week. CLICK HERE for the updated bracket and thanks for following!
Continue with this series, Round of 32: Ice Cream Flavor Madness 2020.
