Space Food Sticks Reenter Earth’s Orbit, Land on Store Shelves
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ — Just in time for Sputnik’s 50th anniversary, the classic space-age energy snack Space Food Sticks is landing on store shelves across the country.
A cult favorite of kids who grew up in the 1970s, Space Food Sticks won their association with the space program during the Apollo Moon landings. Retrofuture Products is releasing the fabled snacks in their original stick form in two flavors, chocolate and peanut butter.
What explains the astro-snack’s enduring popularity? “The magic element is space,” explains Retrofuture’s President Eric Lefcowitz. “The idea of living and eating in space continues to fascinate us.”
The chewy sticks are an artifact of “yesterday’s future,” says Lefcowitz. “It’s a tradition worth preserving because it reflects a kind of optimism that’s harder to find today.”
Recreating the Sticks meant capturing that era’s sense of wonder. Lefcowitz turned to Fun-Boy artist Ralph Cosentino to design the retro-style graphics featured on the new Sticks packaging. “I saw Ralph’s book (“Fun-Boy,” Viking Press) and was really impressed. Fortunately he was a fan of Space Food Sticks so it worked out perfectly.”
Currently, the cosmic creations are being sold at nostalgia candy stores, e-commerce websites and museum stores including the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers, and the American Museum of Natural History.
Astronauts are fans, too. “Ed Gibson, an astronaut who was given Space Food Sticks on Skylab 3, contacted us and we sent him some samples,” explains Lefcowitz. “He was later quoted on NBC saying he liked the new ones better. That was certainly a highlight.”
Lefcowitz began the Space Food Sticks Preservation Society in 2001 on a whim, founding the website Spacefoodsticks.com. Thousands of memories flooded into the website inspiring him to do a proper re-launch of the long-lost snack. “It’s a pop culture icon. It’s one of those unique products that defies categorization,” says Lefcowitz.
Public interest in the astro-snack caught Lefcowitz by surprise. He’s now confident wider markets will open: “For one thing, it’s a protein snack so it has lunch box potential. Secondly, and this is harder for many people to believe, they actually taste good.”
In their original incarnation the Sticks were marketed as a perfect between-meal snack with a balanced formula of carbohydrates, proteins and fat by the Pillsbury company in the early 1970s. They were energy bars before there was such a thing.
Evidence of their enduring appeal is found all over the Internet, including several vintage TV commercials on YouTube. An episode of “The Simpsons” also paid tribute to the illustrious space-age treat.
As for the future, Lefcowitz says it’s still waiting to happen. “Space Food Sticks are back but where are the jet packs and the friendly robots? That’s what I want to know,” he says.
Contact: Eric Lefcowitz/President Retrofuture Products 8 Maple St. #5, Port Washington, NY 11050 Telephone: 516-767-1007 Email: info@funkyfoodshop.com Website: http://spacefoodsticks.com/
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Retrofuture Products LLC
CONTACT: Eric Lefcowitz, President of Retrofuture Products,+1-516-767-1007, info@funkyfoodshop.com
Web site: http://spacefoodsticks.com/