Seeking Retail “Taste Makers,” Better Sour Debuts At Erewhon

Better-for-you gummy candy maker Better Sour will make its retail debut across California Erewhon stores this month; the products will be available exclusively at all nine locations until July before expanding into other retail accounts later this year. The brand officially launched at Natural Products Expo West in March.

“Erewhon has historically been the launchpad for so many CPG icons,” said co-founder and Head of Business Development, Bella Hughes. “We’re absolutely thrilled to be making our retail debut in their stores.”

The brand is the brainchild of CPG veteran Hughes, former president and co-founder of Shaka Tea, and attorney Semira Nikou, who also serves as the company’s CEO. The Iranian-American duo have been best friends since growing up together in Hawai’i, with Nikou describing the company as being “35 years in the making.”

Hughes has an extensive track record in CPG, co-founding Mediterranean ice cream company Lezzetli prior to Shaka Tea, which exited to King’s Hawaiian in 2022. She is also the co-founder of Roya Capital, an early stage CPG fund focused on investing in women-owned businesses. Better Sour’s distribution expansion comes on the heels of an oversubscribed $1 million pre-seed round, announced in February, raised to support the brand’s launch.

The duo said they saw whitespace for a sour gummy brand that also showcases the flavors of both their heritage as well as their home state. Sour is a central element to both Iranian and Hawaiian cuisines, Nikou explained. The candies come in two SKUS – one that features a mix of Pomegranate, Apricot, Plum candies as a nod to their Middle Eastern North African (MENA) heritage – and a second that contains Guava, Calamansi, Ume gummies, inspired by the Asian Pacific flavors of the Hawaiian islands.

“We’re excited to be addressing a gaping white space in the candy category and complementing the classic Western flavors that currently exist,” said Nikou. “We’ve seen from recent data that consumers are increasingly seeking bold, global flavors from their foods and beverages, and there are various brands who are successfully responding to this demand across nearly every category in CPG. We see ourselves as the crossover brand in candy whose deliciously tart global flavors satisfy both foodies and traditional candy lovers alike.”

The candies are plant-based, use natural colors and flavors and contain 60 calories, 13 grams of fiber and 3 grams of sugar per 1.8 oz. bag. They are sweetened with a combination of Allulose and apple juice and come in a distinct sun shape, which is emblematic of a major motif in Iranian culture, Mithra, and also featured on the candies front-of-pack. The product has an MSRP of $3.99, but will be available at Erewhon for $4.69.

Better Sour hopes to operate across specialty, natural, grocery, convenience channels ,and eventually, club stores as well. Though the products hone a better-for-you position and low sugar content, Nikou emphasized that they still intend for Better Sour to be an indulgence and may potentially explore other sweeteners with future innovations. According to a report from Grand View Research, the global gummy candy market is expected to grow 3.5% to a $17.7 billion valuation by 2024 with innovative flavors, low sugar and plant-based offerings driving growth.

Alongside the distribution gains, Better Sour will also bring on a new strategic advisor, Sara Brooks, founder of Covet PR and an investor in Asian food brand Omson. Brooks has sold her PR company to start a consulting and advisory firm, Goldilocks, according to Nikou, and will help Better Sour build its brand identity and online presence. Better Sour has also garnered support from Mike Schall, the new president of Pod Foods and former Whole Foods Market executive, and Chris Robb, the Director of Business Development at Dirty Hands and former co-founder of New Barn Organics as well as numerous other ventures.

Hughes said experts from leading gummy candy companies have also been extremely helpful and supportive during Better Sour’s development and launch, which included a fairly in-depth R&D process. The co-founders believe they are the first better-for-you sour gummy candy on the market to embrace these global flavors and hope that in addition to bringing new flavor profiles to U.S. consumers, they are also able to raise awareness for what it means to be of MENA descent in the U.S.

“We are a proud MENA-owned brand and, along with our growing coalition of MENA brands and other CPG founders and professionals, are doing all we can to ensure that MENA voices are elevated and included in broader DEI conversations in the CPG business community,” said Nikou. “As part of this effort, we’re even working with a reputable NGO to establish a MENA certification process [with more details to come later this summer]”

As they look toward the brand’s future growth, Hughes emphasized that Better Sour will focus solely on the confection category, explaining that the brand will likely launch about one new SKUs per year and has its sights set on achieving positive cash flow and profitability as soon as possible.

“Having been in CPG for nearly a decade, we know how competitive this industry is and are very much focused on building a product and company that’s financially sound with strong margins, executing to ensure we’ve got great velocity and are bringing value to our retail partners,” said Hughes. “We’re also taking a “less is more” approach, which is hard to do as two creative entrepreneurs, we have more innovation than we know what to do with, so for us, it’s about being hyper disciplined and keeping focused on a few, core SKUs.”