Michael Foods is expanding its Papetti's® portfolio into the waffle category with three fully cooked, ready-to-use products aimed at foodservice operators looking to build out grab-and-go and all-day handheld menus without adding waffle irons or extra labor to back-of-house operations.
The three SKUs — Papetti's® Cornbread Waffle Carrier, Papetti's® Hash Brown Waffle Carrier, and Papetti's® Mini Maple Waffles — entered foodservice distribution on October 1, 2026. The launch marks the Hopkins, Minnesota-based company's first move into the waffle segment, extending a portfolio already anchored in egg and potato products.
The Three Products
The Cornbread Waffle Carrier leans into a sweet-savory profile with a honey-forward cornbread flavor, positioned as a bread alternative for breakfast sandwiches, chicken handhelds, and barbecue builds. The Hash Brown Waffle Carrier converts a familiar breakfast item into a crispy, savory platform for sandwiches and burgers, targeting the same all-day daypart flexibility that has driven hash brown patty adoption across c-store foodservice programs. The Mini Maple Waffles — bite-sized, Belgian-style, and maple-flavored — are pitched at snack boxes, grab-and-go cases, catering trays, and dessert builds, drawing on momentum from the company's existing egg-bite lineup.
Why It Matters for C-Store Operators
For convenience retailers managing foodservice programs with limited kitchen footprints and lean staffing, pre-cooked waffle carriers address a real operational gap. Waffle-based sandwiches have gained traction at quick-service chains over the past several years, and c-store operators have been slower to adopt the format largely because fresh-baked waffles require equipment and trained labor that most forecourt kitchens can't support. A fully cooked, heat-and-serve carrier solves that equation.
Josh Nissen, Vice President of Marketing at Michael Foods, framed the launch as a direct extension of the brand's egg portfolio strategy. "Our new waffle carriers provide operators with versatile menu-building solutions that bring together the powerful combination of protein, portability, and craveable taste," Nissen said.
The portable handheld category continues to be one of the stronger growth areas in c-store foodservice, with grab-and-go and breakfast daypart traffic holding up even as inside-sales comps face pressure in other categories. Waffle carriers give single-store operators and regional chains alike a differentiated bread alternative that doesn't require a new equipment line. Michael Foods, a Post Holdings subsidiary, distributes nationally through its existing foodservice network, which should ease the logistics burden for operators already purchasing Papetti's eggs or Simply Potatoes items.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
