By Megan Graham

Mondelez is giving its Sour Patch Kids candy a glow-up.

A version of the brand will contain a flavorless turmeric-extract "confetti" so it gives off a fluorescent glow under a blacklight. Another of the cookie-and-candy giant's brands, Swedish Fish, likewise will introduce a new product that glows.

Mondelez plans to begin selling the products in the U.S. online next week and in stores later in March.

Sour Patch Kids marketing executives said the idea of glowing products came from observing how much Gen Z consumers love glow-in-the-dark elements in other settings, including online videos of DJ sets.

"We really try and focus to deliver on that cool factor for Gen Z and for the brand, that 18-to-22 year-old demo, as a key area for where we want our communication to first land," said John Vasington, a brand manager for Sour Patch Kids. "That's an area of culture where we see the trends being set, and we want to be a part of that."

To that end, the brand previously collaborated with streetwear label Kith on a merchandise line that included a baseball cap adorned with chenille Sour Patch Kids.

Candy sales growth has struggled in recent years because inflation strained consumer spending on discretionary purchases, according to research firm IBISWorld. Consumers are also turning to healthier options, such as products promoted as lower-sugar or all-natural.

U.S. revenue of the candy production industry will, however, deliver a compound annual growth rate of 0.8% over the next five years, reaching $11.6 billion in 2029, IBISWorld predicts. Retail sales of Sour Patch Kids have grown at an average annual rate of 11.8% over the last three years, according to Mondelez.

Innovation by candy makers can produce big dividends: Nerds Gummy Clusters have recently turned into a monster hit for Ferrara Candy, fueled in part by a flood of consumer videos on TikTok.

Glowing Sour Patch Kids, which are strawberry-and-watermelon flavored, may be positioned to benefit from a similar social-media boost. Candy in general is a mainstay of social media, where influencers and users are making "candy salads" with varieties of treats or taste-testing candy from viral stores like BonBon.

The TikTok account for Sour Patch Kids has grown to 2.4 million followers on the back of irreverent posts, including a recent one showing a bag of the candies being poured out over a plate of bangers and mash.

In case anyone wonders whether making candy glow is a dubious addition to its health profile, the package of the blacklight Sour Patch Kids explains their unusual properties come from turmeric.

"That's why we have the communication on the packaging, and it's important that we make it clear to consumers that it's the turmeric extract," said Lauryn McDonough, senior director of candy at Mondelez. "That's something very straightforward and easy to understand in terms of what the ingredient is."

For consumers who don't have blacklights handy, Mondelez has worked with social-media platform Snapchat to create a filter showing how the product would look under a blacklight. The filter is expected to launch next week.

"Since we're not necessarily in the business of commercializing blacklights, that was a major contributing factor to the Snapchat lens: wanting to find that alternative way that consumers can get to experience the product without needing to make an additional purchase," Vasington said.

"We certainly hope that there will be environments where blacklights are plentiful, and folks can get to experience the candy in those settings, but we want to make sure they have alternate options as well," Vasington added.

Write to Megan Graham at megan.graham@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2025 17:52 ET (22:52 GMT)

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