Inside Rotten’s BFY Take on Nerds Gummy Clusters

After making a name for itself with lower-sugar gummy worms and ‘90s gross-out culture-inspired branding over the past 15 months, Rotten is expanding its portfolio with the launch of Gummy Cruncheez, a better-for-you take on the wildly popular (and successful) Nerds Gummy Clusters.

The new innovation, a gummy ring covered in tart candy pieces, is available in Original and Sour varieties with “cruncheez” flavors like Loopy Lime, Scary Cherry, Messy Mandarin, Barfin’ Blue Raz, Weirdo Watermelon and Slobberin’ Strawberry. Gummy Cruncheez are crafted with a mix of allulose and glucose syrup and sweetened with chicory root and monk fruit. Like the brand’s flagship gummy worms, they contain 60% less sugar than the leading brand, Rotten claims.

The new products will be available on the brand’s website and at Safeway, ShopRite, Misfits Market and Hungry Root with a SRP of $3.99 per 1.8 oz. pouch.

California-based Rotten began with a Kickstarter campaign for “sickeningly delicious” gummy worms in 2021, bringing in over $38,000. After nearly two years of consumer testing, focus groups and sampling, the brand debuted online in September 2023. Since then, it has landed its products in retailers like Zumiez, Safeway and Hy-Vee.

“I felt there was a gap in the market for a product that delivered on lower sugar but still felt and looked like candy and delivered on the weird and wacky indulgence that candy always gave me,” said founder and CEO Michael Fisher. “We built Rotten on a ton of fun ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgic references like Garbage Pail Kids and Creepy Crawlers.”

With the introduction of Gummy Cruncheez, Rotten is hoping to draw even more consumers into the better-for-you candy space. In fact, Fisher says over 70% of its customers are new to the sector.

“We’re looking to bring in a lot of people who haven’t been attracted to better-for-you candy to date,” he said. “We’re hoping that a product like this, which is incredibly unique in the space, will help us double down on bringing in those whole sugar customers.”

The launch comes amidst an uptick in the non-chocolate candy category (and surging cocoa prices), with some 90% of consumers buying from the category in 2024, per market researcher Mintel. The rise is even more pronounced amongst Gen Z and Millenials, with over 30% reporting higher purchases in the sector.

This demand has provided brands with ample opportunity to explore alternative packaging, better-for-you formulations, flavors, formats, brand collaborations and textures. Gummy Cruncheez have been in development for just under a year and hit on several of these trends, according to Fisher.

“We’re seeing demand for dual textures and multi-sensorial experiences. People are also leaning into sour. This product really nails what a lot of consumers are looking for and also a lot of our gummy worm customers were asking for from us,” he said.

Rotten shared the concept of Gummy Cruncheez with “key partners” at the Sweets & Snacks Expo before executing sampling with key customers. Following the show, Rotten received a legal letter from Nerds maker Ferrara in efforts to halt production of the product, but this action just made the brand even more confident.

Dual textures may be popular now, but that wasn’t always the case. Consumers disliked Ferrara’s Nerds Rope when it debuted in 2001 due to the product staining their hands and rogue Nerds candies. When the company introduced Nerds Gummy Clusters in 2020, consumers weren’t sure what to make them. But after going viral on TikTok and getting a stamp of approval from Kylie Jenner in an Instagram story, Nerds Gummy Clusters finally took off. Last year, the product racked up $500 million in sales before Halloween, according to the Wall Street Journal.

While Rotten may be the first to attempt a lower-sugar, better-for-you version of Nerds Gummy Clusters, the launch is part of a recent influx of better-for-you candy and candy-inspired products, including DeeBee’s, Better Sour and Final Boss Sour.

Building a Foundation

Operating under the tagline “Feed Your Freak,” Rotten embraces the “TV-14 gross-out culture like your parents hated when you were a kid” with animated monster Franky Freak and evil scientist Dr. Rotten. When developing Rotten’s branding, Fisher said he wanted to be able to develop entertainment IP with the brand and have a foundation to potentially have a TV show on Adult Swim with its characters one day.

“I wanted to ensure the brand we were building had depth and wasn’t just the set of color and packaging design choices and that we were building enough of a story and foundation,” he told Nosh.

Marketing for Gummy Cruncheez will lean into the product’s crunch factor, bringing it to life through partnerships with creators and influencers.

In the year ahead, Rotten will focus on expanding its distribution footprint, as Fisher says the main piece of feedback he gets from consumers is they want to be able to buy the brand where they’re already shopping. The brand’s ultimate goal is to create candy that delivers on taste and just so happens to be better-for-you.

“Novelty candy has an important role in the industry, but we’re really focused on building products that can be an everyday option,” said Fisher.