Cabot adds stout to create line of Guinness Mac & Cheese flavors

March 17, 2023  |  By Waterbury Roundabout

Photo courtesy Cabot Creamery Cooperative

Always looking for new twists on its trademark comfort food, Cabot Creamery Cooperative has taken its mac and cheese in a new direction by adding the flavor of Guinness stout.

The new product debuted just ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, a day to celebrate all things Irish. 

Guinness Boxed Macaroni & Cheese was created in a collaboration between Guinness and The Farmer Companies, a diversified private equity firm headquartered in Burlington since 2018. Its mission is to support growing brand value into new categories. Its newest division is called Vermont Cheese Products, Inc. whose first license covers a line of specially branded consumer snack products under the Cabot brand, held by the dairy cooperative Agri-Mark. The Vermont partners worked with Guinness’ global brand extension agency called Beanstalk, according to Cabot. 

The packaged, ready-to-make Guinness Macaroni & Cheese meals use Cabot’s award-winning extra sharp Farmers’ Reserve cheddar. The products contain no alcohol but offer a “malty flavored take” on the popular comfort food, the company says. They include a ready-made cheese sauce with organic radiatore pasta. The boxes contain about three 3.7-ounce servings that take about 15 min. to prepare.

The Farmer Companies Chief Executive and Board Chair Adam Farmer said Vermont Cheese Products and Guinness have worked for nearly two years on the blend of Guinness and Cabot cheddar to go into the liquid sauce that comes in the package. 

It was time well-spent, however, resulting in “the perfect blend of stout and cheddar,” said Adam Weber, senior vice president of sales for The Farmer Companies. “It’s perfection in a box!”

In addition to the original Guinness Macaroni & Cheese, Vermont Cheese Products plans to add several more flavors to the Guinness line including Caramelized Onion, Cracked Black Pepper, and Black Truffle. 

Guinness Macaroni & Cheese is available at a number of grocery chains across New England and upstate New York including Price Chopper and Hannaford.