Sweets & Snacks: Freeze Dried Candies Abound; Puffs Get a BFY Makeover
Last week, more than 1,000 exhibitors took to Sweets & Snacks Expo 2024 at the Indiana Convention Center to showcase their latest innovations, ranging from freeze dried candy to better-for-you snack puffs to reformulations of existing products. The show, hosted by the National Confectioners Association, drew in approximately 16,000 attendees.
Freeze Dried Candies Abound
As proof that freeze dried foods aren’t just for astronauts, the Sweets & Snacks Expo show floor was flooded with new freeze dried candy offerings from emerging brands. For many, the appeal of freeze dried candy lies in its crunchy texture and intensified flavors, which are a result of the freeze drying process removing all moisture.
Several of the brand founders we spoke with credited the popularity of the term “freeze dried candy” on TikTok – spanning 238 million posts – for turning this specific sweet treat format into the latest candy craze.
Orlando, Florida-based AstroFreeze, which highlights a cosmic space cowboy theme across its packaging and branding, currently offers five varieties of freeze dried candy: Gravity Taffy, Rainbow Space Rocks, Lunar Lemons, Blast-O-Honey, and Berry Space Rocks. The brand – which freeze dries and packages its products in-house – will soon launch two new offerings highlighted at the show, Choco Rocks and Crunchy Cinnamon Bites.
Since launching direct-to-consumer roughly three to four months ago, AstroFreeze has expanded its retail footprint to 4,500 doors nationwide including retailers like TJ Maxx and Marshalls as well as military exchanges. In addition to its flagship 2.5 oz. multi-serve bag, the brand has introduced a smaller pouch specifically designed for channels like convenience.
Kanpai Foods, which launched approximately four to five months ago, has utilized its YouTube channel to amass a sizable following of 53,100 subscribers for its candy lineup. The brand is the brainchild of Isaac Madeiro, who has a background in culinary arts, and Hank Rao, who has experience in food science.
Kanpai’s current product lineup includes Freeze Dried Sour Candy, Freeze Dried Fruity Candy, Freeze Dried Gummy Worms, Freeze Dried Chamoy Candy and Freeze Dried Spicy Candy. According to Madeiro, the brand recently landed in World Market and is expanding production to support larger accounts.
Elsewhere, Sow Good showed off its lineup – which includes products like Sour Spheres, Mini Bursts, and Crunchy Spheres – which is produced in the brand’s 20,000 sq. ft. facility in Irving, Texas. According to founder and CEO Claudia Goldfarb, she and her husband were inspired to create a new CPG brand that leveraged their premium freeze-drying technology in the facility previously built for their former pet food business.
After launching in 2020 with a line of freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, and ready-to-blend smoothies, the company pivoted to freeze-dried candy in 2023 as the products resonated more with consumers.
“We’ve got this facility, we’ve got this amazing technology and we started looking at where there was white space. Where can we take this incredibly powerful machinery and be disruptive,” said Goldfarb. “If you ever would have told me that TikTok was going to shine a light on what that would be, I would say there’s no way.”
Sweets Brands Enter Their 2.0 Eras
Though Sweets & Snacks isn’t a major showcase for new product launches, several candy makers took to this year’s show to highlight reformulations and packaging refreshes across existing products and formats.
BEHAVE Candy, which produces a line of lower sugar, PCOS and diabetic-friendly gummies, attended the show as a first-time exhibitor to showcase its revamped product line. Available in four varieties – Sweets Stars, Sour Stars, Sweet Bears and Sour Bears – each serving now contains 3 grams of sugar, 5 grams of net carbs and 19 grams of fiber.
The reformulation – conducted in partnership with chef Elizabeth Falkner in addition to a food scientist – is the result of three years of consumer feedback via surveys, interviews, and in-person demos; consumers asked for less monk fruit/sweeteners aftertaste, a lower price point, and product photography on-pack. According to founder Mayssa Chehata, the decision to reformulate has already resulted in consistent reorders that are getting “bigger and bigger” as well as partnerships with the likes of Live Nation.
“Our investors and everyone we work with was really on board with this vision to reformulate, lower the price, and relaunch,” said Chehata. “There was a lot of support and understanding that we were going to have to take a step back from growth in order to boomerang forward in the business.”
Meanwhile, Joyride, which “relaunched” earlier this year with a four-SKU (Pink Lemonade, Blue Raspberry, Green Apple, and Strawberry) line of sour strip candies, has slightly tweaked the product’s formulation in preparation for its launch in 1,300 Target stores next month.
“There were little tweaks here and there that we made and were able to unlock the next production run [of the strips],” said CEO Tyler Merrick, adding that the improvements were made based on consumer feedback from detailed consumer surveys sent out to customers five days after receiving the product.
Additionally, the brand highlighted its Launch Pack 2, which consists of Cherry Berry Ropes, Sour Watermelon Wedges, Sour Strawberry Rope Bites and Classic Strawberry Twists.
Elsewhere, Rotten highlighted its new Rotten 2.0 formula, which features a classic gummy worm texture, six different flavors, all-natural colors, and a sourness that has been “cranked up to an 11” while Tazzy Candy showed off its reformulated Lemon Hard Candy and Watermelon Lollipops that took 15 months to perfect and scale.
Puffs Continue to Get a BFY Makeover
As further proof that snack puffs are becoming a major player in the better-for-you snack category, several brands showcased new offerings and flavors featuring healthier base ingredients.
Harvest Snaps by Calbee America exhibited its new line of Crunchy Puffs – available in White Cheddar Jalapeno, Loaded Taco, and Honey Dijon flavors – crafted with farm-picked navy beans. The snacks feature 4 grams of plant-based protein and 3 grams of fiber per serving.
Snack’In For You USA, which debuted last year, showcased its portfolio of vegetable-based puffs, including Cheddar Jalapeno Broccoli Puffs, Mesquite Barbecue Broccoli Puffs, Buffalo Ranch Puffs and Sour Cream and Onion Cauliflower Puffs. The baked snacks are gluten-free, packed with 4 grams of protein per serving, and come in both 2 oz. and 4 oz. bags.
Meanwhile, Like Air – which made its Shark Tank earlier this year and was featured on Good Morning America last week – showed off its four-SKU (Classic, Cinnamon Bun, White Cheddar and Pancake) line of “puffcorn” made with non-GMO corn. The Madison, New Jersey-based brand has launched a fifth flavor, Sour Cream & Onion, exclusively available at BJ’s Wholesale Club in a 14 oz. multi-serve bag.
The brand is currently focused on expanding its brick-and-mortar presence and is currently available at retailers such as Kroger banners, Meijer, Ralph’s, and Fred Meyer and, according to co-founder Allison Lin, Shark Tank has played a significant role in its retail expansion.
good2grow’s Snackers Line Sees Success in C-Store Channel
After making its debut last year, good2grow’s first food product, Snackers, has found sweet success in the convenience store channel. Citing Nielsen data, the brand said Snackers has been the number one new snack item with C-store customers where it’s sold and has grown 5x in the past year.
Like the rest of the brand’s products, the baked oat and wheat cracker line – available in Cinnamon and Chocolate flavors – is built around collectible character tops licensed from major entertainment properties like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Hasbro.
“This foray into food is a game changer for us. We’ve got lots of growth opportunities we’re pursuing – not only expansion of flavors, but also expansion of packaging. A lot of applications across categories,” said CEO Gunnar Olson.
