Sour Candy Is Having A Moment, Do You Have Enough?

It's undeniable, America loves candy! It makes everything better, and it’s the perfect companion no matter what the mood. And right now, people are indulging in a summertime sour candy buffet. Whether they are happy or upset, excited or nervous, partying or working – sour candy always hits the spot!

Sour candy is also super trendy these days, thanks to Lady Gaga and Blackpink’s new promotional hit single “Sour Candy.” Released in early 2020, “Sour Candy” is at the top of popularity charts right now. The inspiration behind the song is the unique deliciousness of sour candy confections. The artists wanted the song to be like old Sour Patch Kids commercials that brought the concept of sour and sweet together.

From social media challenges to party themes, special gifts to everyday delights – a wide variety of sour candies are in the pop culture limelight. While this trend continues to surge, you don’t want to miss the spike in customer demand. If you haven’t already made wholesale sour candy plans to stock your shelves, it’s not too late. Start picking which of the mouth-puckering delights will make your summer sales so much sweeter.

People’s Love-Hate Relationship with Sour Candy

Love them or hate them – every single kid (and a heck of a lot of adults) must try the sourest of sour candies and once they do, most of them keep coming back for more. It’s not just how they taste. All the sour candy activities and challenges create so much excitement around sour candy, they are the most talked about candy online. According to Buzzfeed there are two kinds of people in the world – those who worship sour candy and those who cannot stand it.

Nevertheless, even with that divide, the non-chocolate candy segment is growing steadily, at a 3% annual growth. The market leader in non-chocolate chewy candy brands of America is Skittles, known for its mouth-puckering sour candy. After private label brands, Starburst and Sour Patch Kids – sour candy giants - are the next highest selling brands, bringing in nearly 162 million and 122 million per year respectively.

Consumers aged between 25 to 44 years old are the ones who grew up on sour candy, so these treats remind them of their childhood. Besides, they place more interest on experiential factors and that translates to an inclination towards sour candy. The choices people make range from mild lemony tartness to the sourest picks, and millennials are the sweet spot for sour candy.

The Most Common Types of Sour Candy

Many believe sour candy only comes in the form of hard candy to be sucked on and relished. However, there are infinite selections of candy that come in a wide range of mouth-puckering flavors. Listed below are some of the most common types –

Sour Gummy Candy: multi-flavored assortments of chewy gummy worms, sour gummi bears, and assorted gummy shapes.

Sour Hard Candy: little sour delights that can be sucked on and come in multiple shapes and colors, from candy sticks to balls and more.

Sour Jellies: one of the most popular summer candies that come in an array of flavors and shapes, such as fruit slices and candy balls.

Salt Water Taffy: little wrapped goodies that come in a range of fruity flavors, including mouth-puckering sour delights.

What Causes the Sour Flavor in Candy?

Ever wonder what makes your favorite sour candy so deliciously tart? The secret lies in using ingredients that are naturally sour such as lemon, lime, green apples, raspberries, and more. Plus, the addition of a few organic acids contributes to the super sour taste and unique flavor of the candy.

One of the most common ingredients is citric acid, which commonly exists in fruits such as lemons and grapefruits. It is an antioxidant that lends the tart flavor to sour candy. Other organic acids such as malic, ascorbic, fumaric, and tartaric acids are often used to prepare sour candy, each of which lends a slightly different yet generally tart flavor.

Some of the Most Popular Sour Candy and Snacks

Now that we understand how much people love sour candy and what they are made of, let us look at the upcoming trends. Food trends are ever-evolving, and ‘trying something different’ is the rage these days. People are looking for confectionery experiences beyond the standard sweet. Director of Marketing for Warheads maker Impact Confections says, “There’s a lot of innovation around increasing flavor intensity and combining flavor sensations – hot and sour, sweet heat, bitter and sour.

This trend is also being driven by more adventurous customer palates and to some extent, consumers moving away from super sweet.” Take the Alamo Sour Pickle Balls for example! These unique candies capture the great taste of Texas and are famous for being deliciously seasoned with a little kick sure to leave your mouth puckered.

Though the market is replete with different types of sour candies, a few favorites sell out as soon as they are put up the racks! We imagine even a candy buffet would not be enough to stop people from fighting over these popular sour candies. Some of which have been loved for generations:

Cry Baby Tears Extra Sour Candy

As the name suggests, these candies are really sour (they will not make you actually cry though). Cry Baby Tears Extra Sour Candy has been a fan favorite for a long time. What people love most about them is that they are neither too overpowering nor too gentle – somewhere in the middle to let your taste buds relish in mouth-puckering goodness.

Toxic Waste Sour Slime Licker

One of the sourest candy brands out there, Toxic Waste Sour Candy has many fans as they can really make your face shrink. People love these saliva-inducing candies because they are so sour and so unique. Believe it or not, people actually eat these candies so they can upload social media videos of their experience tasting these super sour delights!

Dip-n-Lik Sour Triple Dip Candy

People love licking these specialty candies that come in the form of sticks dipped into the powdered sour candy. Each container of Dip n Lik Sour Triple Dip Candy offers multiple tart flavors, such as raspberry, strawberry, and green apple.

Warheads Candy Minis – Hard and Chewy Candy

Social media is rife with contests among people timing their endurance with the Warheads sour candy, available in a wide variety including Extreme Sour Hard Candy and Sour Booms Chewy Candy. They also have a hint of sugar to keep the taste-buds entertained.

With these and many other sour candy types hitting an all-time high in popularity, customers have been rushing to enjoy old favorites and discover new passions. What a great opportunity to stock your store with the most popular selections of summer.

Stuff Your Stores with Bulk Sour Candy Today!

If you’re lucky enough to own a candy store, there seems to be no slowing down for sour candy sales anytime soon. People are eager for something new and memorable to try, and sour offers the perfect contrast from the conventional sweet candy.

We at Redstone Foods are premier distributors of specialty bulk candy, and packaged candy, including the red hot trending sour candy at a wholesale price. With an impressive inventory of the best selections, our wholesale sour candy assortments are just the right fit for your store. Call us today to purchase your bulk order of sour candy and stock your shelves for the summer!