BranchOut Foods, Zesty Snackz Partner for Single-Fruit Gummy Line

Food tech company BranchOut Foods Inc. is teaming up with influencer-led brand Zesty Snackz to launch a new line of single-ingredient Fruit Chips made with BranchOut’s proprietary GentleDry process.

Zesty Snackz was founded in 2024 by Brenten Szekely and Paul Cuffaro and makes sour gummy candies under the Zesty Bitez brand. Szekely and Cuffaro first rose to fame as YouTubers, founding entertainment business Finatic Media in 2019.

The new Fruit Chips will launch under the Zesty Snackz label, according to a release, and will be a better-for-you offering made with real fruit in mango, pineapple, strawberry and banana flavors. The first batch will roll out direct-to-consumer in April, and additional flavors are planned for the near future.

“These creators have built trusted brands with highly engaged audiences,’” said BranchOut CEO Eric Healy in a press release. “By combining that reach with our advanced drying technology and supply chain scale, we are uniquely positioned to deliver premium, single-ingredient snacks to a rapidly expanding market.”

“This partnership allows us to bring something to our audience that we genuinely believe in,” added Szekely. “Our community wants real, simple, high-quality products, and this collaboration delivers exactly that. After visiting the BranchOut facility in Peru and seeing the GentleDry process firsthand, we were incredibly impressed with the technology, the scale of the operation, and the team behind it.”

Sour gummy candies have continued to thrive as one of Gen Z’s top sweet preferences, while manufacturers have embraced the confection format amid surging cocoa prices. According to market research firm Mintel, around 90% of consumers purchased non-chocolate candies in 2024.

Zesty is competing in the space alongside other youth-focused better-for-you gummy candy brands like Rotten, Better Sour and Final Boss Sour.