Here’s What Food and Beverage Companies are Doing for St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day may look a little different this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nationwide, many St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and gatherings have been canceled, now for the second year, scaled back or moved to an online platform. But just because we won’t be seeing green-clad crowds filling local bars, doesn’t mean the Irish holiday has been called off. Here’s what some major food and beverage companies are offering up to see and save some green.

Krispy Kreme

https://twitter.com/krispykreme/status/1371514295951970307

The famous donut brand is not one to shy away from holiday spirit, and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception. This year, Krispy Kreme is offering any customer wearing green a free O’riginal Glazed donut — its classic glazed donut, but green.

Krispy Kreme has also released The Luck O’The Donuts, a St. Patrick’s Day-themed donut collection. The offer includes four different filled-donut icings, including Lucky Sprinkles, Lucky Unicorn, Lucky Leprechaun and Lucky Gold Coins.

The donut chain has heavily relied on takeout and delivery options during the pandemic, often capitalizing on holidays. For Valentine’s Day, Krispy Kreme created a custom Valentine’s Day box as well as special menu items for the holiday.

Related: Valentine’s Day Sparks Product Innovation Among Big Food Brands

Budweiser

https://twitter.com/budweiserusa/status/1370410689609732106

For St. Patrick’s Day, Budweiser is turning its beer “green,” but that doesn’t mean consumers will be sipping on green-colored beer. Instead, the company has pledged “enough Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to cover the estimated electricity used to brew beer in the US in one day,” according to a press release.

Despite the lack of opportunity for normal St. Patrick’s day festivities this year, consumers can still enjoy Budweiser beer knowing that it has been brewed with 100 percent renewable electricity from wind power. So while no food coloring was used to turn its beer green, Budweiser is still taking advantage of the traditional Irish color for the holiday.

McDonald’s

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  🍀🍀🍀🍀hamrock Shake is back on 2.15

— McDonald's (@McDonalds) February 2, 2021

McDonald’s got a head-start for St. Patrick’s Day by bringing back its infamous Shamrock Shake in mid-February.  The minty Shamrock Shake and Oreo Shamrock Shake are available for a limited time, likely contributing to their hype year after year.

Formerly named “St. Patrick’s Day Green Milkshake, the Shamrock Shake has been an annual tradition at McDonald’s since its debut in 1970. It took a while before the rare treat was offered at locations nationwide, and even now not every location sells it, but McDonald’s’ Shamrock Shake finder app makes it easy to track down the item.

Here are some other notable St. Patrick’s Day offers:

• Dairy Queen: The Mint Orea Blizzard Treat and Mint Chip Shake are available until Wednesday.
• Dunkin’: For a limited time, Irish Cream-flavored coffee is available. The chain also recently added avocado toast and a matcha-topped donut to its menu.
• Starbucks: The coffee chain is offering up a few green beverages, including the Kiwi Starfruit Starbucks Refreshers and the Pineapple Matcha Drink.
• Wendy’s: Customers can get free Pub Fries with any mobile purchase through March 28.
• White Castle: Email subscribers will receive a coupon for buy-one-get-one Castle Combo meals one through six or a breakfast combo, valid Wednesday through March 20.