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Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How Nerds Gummy Clusters became the candy aisle's biggest hit
This story was originally published on Food Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Food Dive newsletter. When Nutella maker Ferrero purchased Nestlé's candy business for nearly $3 billion in 2018, the acquisition added popular brands such as Butterfinger, Baby Ruth and 100 Grand to its enviable roster of sweets. But while much of the attention went to these iconic offerings, it may be Nerds, a product largely seen as an afterthought by its prior owner, that could turn out to be the sweetest brand of them all. Nerds is on track to hit more than $900 million in sales this year, a more than 1,700% increase from the $50 million in sales the brand was generating when it was first incorporated into Ferrara, which is owned by a Ferrero-affiliated holding company. The unprecedented surge is directly attributed to the widely popular Nerds Gummy Clusters, which represented the first meaningful innovation for the once-sleepy brand in years. Nerds Gummy Clusters are now the top sugar confection on the market, overtaking Mars Wrigley's Skittles, according to Ferrara. 'We knew we had something that was kind of special, but we really, truly had no idea how special it was or that it would grow as fast or as big as it has become,' said Katie Duffy, vice president of global brands with Ferrara. But the success of the clusters, which are a gummy ensconced in crunchy Nerds candies, wasn't a given. Initial tests weren't particularly encouraging, Duffy recalled, with consumers struggling to comprehend the multi-textural eating experience. 'We looked at the scores that came back from the concept and it was not all sunshine and rainbows,' Duffy recalled. 'We were really trying to understand, okay, why are they not getting it.' Ferrara remained hopeful that Nerds Gummy Clusters would catch on with consumers, especially after the treats proved to be an early hit with its own employees. After tweaking the visuals and language around how they showcased the treats, Nerds Gummy Clusters finally started resonating with testers. When Nerds was acquired, Ferrara observed that the 35-year-old brand had a high level of consumer awareness but went years without meaningful innovation and minimal marketing, Duffy said. Nerds also were not viewed as a market leader in candy because of their small size and the fact that they were messy. Nerds Gummy Clusters solved many of these problems. The candy has proven to be a hit at movie theaters and airports. Nerds Gummy Clusters also have helped attract older consumers and new snacking occasions to the brand. Most surprisingly, some distance runners and endurance athletes have used them as a booster in place of supplements such as Gu Energy Gel, Duffy said. Despite the recent sales boom, Duffy said there is plenty of growth left for the Nerds brand. Ferrara is rolling out more seasonal Gummy Clusters varieties in the U.S. and has expanded the brand into overseas markets such as the U.K. and Canada. At the same time, the company is hopeful Nerds Gummy Clusters can grab more shelf space at existing stores to better match its product velocity. Ferrara also is planning its next big launch under the Nerds banner later this year with Nerds Juicy Gummy Clusters. The snack contains juice in the center and is three times the size of the Gummy Cluster. 'Nerds Juicy Gummy Clusters is going to give us an opportunity to continue to build momentum that Nerds has already established,' Duffy said. 'It's a different eating experience.' Recommended Reading Leftovers: Nestlé sweetens game day with Cookie Nachos | Godiva doubles down on gourmet chocolate Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Miami Herald
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
New Nerds Gummy Clusters Candy Wins ‘Most Innovative' Award During Debut
A new variety of Nerds Gummy Clusters just won a huge award ahead of its official release. The Sweets & Snacks Expo kicks off in Indianapolis today, with several big-name brands showcasing all-new products and returning favorites for 2025 and early 2026. So far, we've learned about a first-ever flavor of Nutella, an upcoming Crunch bar variety, the new look coming for Ferrero Rocher, got a preview of Butterfinger's new marshmallow-flavored bar, new Keebler cookies, and even had a highly-awaited Tic Tac collab confirmed. But now that the event is officially here, experts are releasing their top picks for "Most Innovative" new snack and sweets releases, and unsurprisingly, the new Nerds Juicy Gummy Clusters won for the Gummy category. Related: Gushers Brings "Impossible to Ignore" Fan Request to Life With New Release "The Most Innovative New Product Awards are a celebration of the creativity and ingenuity that keeps people coming back to the candy and snack aisles," John Downs, president & CEO of the National Confectioners Association, the host organization for Sweets & Snacks Expo, said in a May 12 press release. "Consumers turn to confectionery and snack products to add a little sweet or salty touch to special occasions and everyday moments. This year's MINPA winners are outstanding examples of the ways in which the confectionery and snack industries are delivering products to meet consumers where they want to be met." According to a description reviewed by Parade, the new subline will "unleash all of your senses with an epic bigger-than-ever candy experience" and is said to feature "a delicious strawberry punch flavor combined with the crunchy, gummy, juicy textures in a satisfying bite for a next level experience that only NERDS can bring." When our editors inquired about the new release about a week ago, a spokesperson for the brand confirmed that while it's excited to announce the release at the expo, other details would have to wait "closer to launch." Related:New Trolli Sour Candy Offers "Enhanced" Sensory Experience An official release date for the new Juicy Gummy Clusters has not yet been made public, but it's likely safe to assume that fans will see them on shelves by year-end or within the first quarter of 2026. Along with the Nerds candy, other new product award winners this year include: Amos Tastysounds JinglePop Graffiti, Most Innovative New Seasonal Product Belle's Gourmet Popcorn Matcha Latte Popcorn, Best In ShowChunk Nibbles Toffee Sweet & Salty Clusters, Most Innovative New Sweet SnackJuicy Drop® Gummy Mystery Cube 5oz Original Flavor, Most Innovative New Non-Chocolate CandyNomad Snacks Pad Thai Flavored Ready-to-eat Popcorn, Most Innovative New Small Business InnovatorPop & Sol Coconut Flaked White Chocolate Covered Cashews, Most Innovative New Chocolate ProductSnak Club Ramen flavored Snack Mix, Most Innovative New Savory SnackTrashy Gourmet Shortbread Cookies with Mini Strawberry Boba from Molly Bz Cookies, Most Innovative New Baked Good. Next:Popular Pudding Brand's New Flavor Has Fans' Attention: "Stop Playing" Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Atlantic
13-05-2025
- Business
- Atlantic
The Next Generation of Chicago Sweets
Detroit and automobiles. Switzerland and watches. London and finance. The world is full of innovation hubs that set the tone for global industries. Candy is one of these industries, and it has its very own capital city in the U.S.: Chicago For more than 100 years, America's Second City has been home to a long list of confectionary companies. William Wrigley started his eponymous chewing gum business here in 1891. Ferrara, the maker of Lemonheads and Nerds, got its start in Chicago. In fact, the city once had such a long and storied tradition of confectionary companies setting up shop along Lake Michigan that it became known as the Candy Capital of the World, until rising costs for sugar and labor forced several brands to depart. 'Chicago is known as a center for meatpacking, steel, and grain, but it's not as well remembered for being a major center for candy innovation,' says Leslie Goddard, author of Chicago's Sweet Candy History. 'And that's too bad because it's a really interesting story.' Today, Chicago's sweet-treat innovation tradition is being carried into the future by one of the world's most iconic candy companies: Ferrero, the chocolate and confectionary conglomerate behind iconic treats including Nutella and its golden-wrapped Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolates. In 2023, Ferrero Group doubled down on its investment in Chicago as an innovation hub when it opened a 45,000-square-foot research and development facility in the heart of the Windy City, solely focused on creating the storied treats of tomorrow. 'Ferrero is unique in terms of our approach to long-term innovation,' says Michael Lindsey, president and chief business officer of Ferrero North America. 'We're always inventing new sweets and trying new things.' Chicago has been at the forefront of food innovation and food science for over 100 years. Global giants like McDonalds and Kraft Heinz have their headquarters in the city. The region's food and beverage manufacturing industry is the nation's largest, generating over $9 billion annually and employing over 66,000 people. Ferrero itself has been heavily invested in the city for years. The multinational company, which sells products in more than 170 countries, manufactures its Butterfinger and Baby Ruth candy bars in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park. The beloved Keebler pie crusts and ice cream cones are made on 110th Street. And their Bloomington campus a couple hours downstate manufactures CRUNCH, 100 Grand, and Kinder Bueno. Located in the historic Marshall Field and Company Building, Ferrero's Innovation Center brings together the company's Research & Development teams—around 50 people—under one roof, all producing both classic flavors and developing new ideas that combine state-of-the-art advancements in food science with confectionary whimsy. 'Having an innovation center in North America helps us focus on the North American palate,' says Effie Nestrud, Ferrero's research and development laboratory head in North America. 'We like things sweet, and we know that we do. We embrace it. Having the center here really helps us to make sure we're driving home those flavor profiles, and also the look, the feel, the finish. Every detail matters.' Joao Paulo Andorinha, head of Ferrero North America R&D Labs, stresses that the first step in the process of making a new hit candy bar is considering the unique desires of the American tastebud. 'We have a briefing to discuss the basic concepts: color, texture, sensorial experience,' he says, after which the team creates a sample of a new product they think could be good. Internally, they then assess the prototype. 'Do we need more sweet, less sweet, more color, less color, more texture or less texture?' Andorinha says. Once everything lines up, Ferrero's R&D teams produce more samples and share the candy with a consumer test group—whose opinions can make or break it. 'There is one sentence that highlights our philosophy, which is, 'A disappointed consumer means a lost consumer,'' says Omar Zausa, president of Ferrero Canada. 'This is the source of our obsession with quality, because every product is an opportunity to please and to engage the consumer.' From start to finish, a new candy can take over two years to develop before hitting the market, as the team works to balance some combination of chocolate, caramel, nougats, nuts, wafers, sugar, and more. Cases in point are the new Butterfinger Salted Caramel and Butterfinger Marshmallow, which Ferrero launched in April. The company began considering new flavors for Butterfinger when it acquired the brand six years ago, but it's taken this long to decide—and then develop—new concepts for the classic candy bar. These will be the first new products produced entirely by Chicago's Innovation Lab. Innovating the Confections of Tomorrow Before they were a global brand, Ferrero was two brothers, Pietro and Giovanni, baking pastries in Alba, Italy, in 1946, intent on making something of their family name. Each brother brought unique skills to the table. Giovanni served as the bakery's marketing genius and developed a national sales network in Italy. Pietro was the product innovator, creating all manner of new sweets, including the original recipe for what would later become Nutella. By the 1960s, a series of expansions helmed by Pietro's son, Michele, made the family business into an international sweets powerhouse. Today, Michele's son, Giovanni Ferrero, the chairman of the company, continues to steer its 35 brands into groundbreaking directions. The obsession with new ideas carries on through the Innovation Center, where thousands of tasty ingredients—hazelnut, cocoa butter, mint, honey and more—are enhanced, extracted, separated and sliced, pressed and puréed to make something entirely original and entirely delicious. Something as simple as cleansing cocoa beans in preparation for baking has become scientific at Ferrero, and the Innovation Lab takes that focus on precision and inventiveness to another level, developing sample after sample with the goal of becoming the next classic candy to come out of Chicago. 'There's just something so amazing about standing at a lab bench, weighing out your ingredients, baking them, and then seeing the product you made come to life,' says Nestrud. 'To know that it will be a big part of consumers' lives—if they've had a bad day, maybe it comforts them, and if they've had a good day, maybe it helps them celebrate—that's what has always drawn me to this work.' In its effort to remain at the forefront of confectionary innovation, Ferrero has developed a number of inventions their competitors don't have, including high-tech machinery only found in Ferrero facilities. One of those creations is the molding plates that create the shape of its famous Ferrero Rocher hazelnut chocolates dusted with crispy wafers and hazelnut pieces. Another proprietary gizmo is an elaborate wrapping machine that packages Ferrero's products and then helps them stand out once they hit store shelves. Zausa says the company's goal of 'constant improvement' keeps them leading the candy industry. 'A product is for eternity, and it is our job to reinvent the way we speak with the consumer,' he says. Once a new chocolate treat or candy bar goes into full production, it moves to one of the company's production facilities throughout North America, like the Brantford plant, which employs up more than 1,300 workers. 'If the consumer starts to compare, we want them to say that we are different, that we are not just making something that everybody makes,' says Danilo Maiochi, the Production System Manager at the Brantford plant. 'We want to make something more special, even when you're just opening a bag of cookies.' The Future Looks Sweet Going forward, food innovation is everywhere in the city. Today, over 60 percent of food startups in Chicago backed by venture capital are working with alternative proteins or new foods created with biotechnology, while its candy industry continues a similar surge in new ideas. Rooted in the history of the region, Ferrero is innovating in unique ways, setting the tone for a fresh chapter in food experimentation and discovery—pushing the boundaries to make sure the city remains a candy capital for the next 100 years. 'We don't start with incremental changes, and we don't do copycats, it's brand new,' says Lindsey. 'A thing that didn't exist is just a fundamentally different product. Nothing like it ever existed in the world. And that's how the innovations continue to be created.'
Travel Weekly
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Travel Weekly
Bottled Blonde Las Vegas ready to be uncorked on the Strip
Bottled Blonde Las Vegas, which owners say combines dining with a vibrant sports-viewing atmosphere and the energy of a nightclub, will make its debut on the Strip this summer. The $50 million, three-story, 20,000-square-foot standalone venue, on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road next to Ole Red, will have an open-air rooftop overlooking the Fountains of Bellagio. "This project has been years in the making, and we're proud to unveil something this dynamic in such an iconic location," said Les Corieri, co-owner of Evening Entertainment Group, the Arizona-based nightlife company behind the Bottled Blonde concept, which already has locations in Dallas and in Scottsdale, Ariz. "We've created a venue where guests can go from burgers and beer to bottle service and beats without missing a step." There will be more than 40 TVs, a 38-foot LED wall and several 360-degree bars for prime views of sporting events. Different music zones on the first and third floors will provide a choice for guests. Solo artists and DJs will perform nightly. Menu favorites Known at its other locations for its signature pizza-and-pint combo, Bottled Blonde will also feature burgers and chicken wings with its craft beer and cocktails. Highlighting the brunch menu is the Butterfinger French toast, topped with Nutella cream cheese, crushed Butterfinger and vanilla bean whipped cream. • Related: New entertainment space set to open at MGM Grand Bottled Blonde Las Vegas will include private and semiprivate indoor event spaces, separated by glass garage doors, with flexible branding opportunities and full-service customization for groups. A 50-foot LED screen on the building's exterior is also available for brand takeovers. "We built Bottled Blonde Las Vegas with versatility at its core," said Diane Corieri, co-owner of Evening Entertainment Group. "This venue was designed to be as electric as the city itself."
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ferrero Survey Unwraps Surprising Easter Celebration Trends for 2025
Three in five adults would like to receive an Easter basket of their own, while the quality of chocolate is priority when purchasing seasonal treats PARSIPPANY, N.J., April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ferrero North America, makers of Ferrero Rocher®, Nutella®, Kinder®, Tic Tac®, Butterfinger® and CRUNCH®, unveiled its 2025 Easter Celebration Index, which explores how Americans plan to celebrate the spring holiday, and their candy preferences associated with it. The survey reveals Easter basket popularity among adults, with chocolate reigning as the most coveted item. Key findings include: 62% of respondents would love to get an adult Easter basket. 22% of adult respondents enjoy Easter chocolate for themselves. 67% of respondents prefer to make their own Easter baskets. 36% of adult respondents prefer gift cards in the Easter basket, followed by confections (23%). 69% of respondents agree that they must include chocolate in their Easter baskets. 28% of respondents identified quality of chocolate as the most influential purchase decision, even more than price, brand preference, packaging design and tradition. 64% of respondents prefer to receive chocolate over non-chocolate candy for Easter. 69% of respondents agree that you should start with the ears not the feet of a chocolate bunny first. 44% of respondents (ages 18-24) rely on social media for Easter decoration ideas, compared to only 8% of ages 65+. 52% of respondents (ages 25–44) are most likely to shop at the last-minute, while only 18% of ages 65+ do. 23% of adult respondents prefer to celebrate Easter by organizing activities for children. "Easter has evolved into a cherished multi-generational celebration that resonates across all age groups," said Jim Klein, Chief Customer Officer, Ferrero USA. "As the creators behind beloved brands like Ferrero Rocher and Kinder, we take pride in offering products that not only captivate children's imaginations but also appeal to adults with discerning tastes who understand that Easter's most delightful traditions are meant for everyone. We recognize our customers' preference for creating personalized Easter baskets, which is why we're delighted to offer premium options like Kinder Joy, Butterfinger, Mother's Cookies and more to enhance their celebrations." Ferrero has everything to make your Easter celebration sweet. For Easter baskets and gifting, Ferrero Rocher®, Tic Tac® Chewy!, and Royal Dansk® Garden Cookie Collection offer delightful treats for family and friends of all ages. Kinder Joy® Eggs and Kinder Chocolate® Mini Friends are perfect for Easter egg hunts and decorating. Spread the spring cheer with Mini Nutella® Easter Jars or treat someone special to miniature delights like CRUNCH® and Butterfinger® available in special Easter packaging. All products are available at retailers nationwide in store and online while supplies last. Survey Methodology A nationwide study was conducted on behalf of Ferrero by Golin in partnership with Dynata among 1,000 adults aged 18 and older, surveyed online on March 24, 2025, examining consumer preferences and plans to celebrate Easter in 2025. The margin of error (at the 95% confidence level) is +/- 3%. About Ferrero® Ferrero began its journey in the small town of Alba in Piedmont, Italy, in 1946. Today, it is one of the world's largest sweet-packaged food companies, with over 35 iconic brands sold in more than 170 countries. The Ferrero Group brings joy to people around the world with much-loved treats and snacks including Nutella®, Kinder®, Tic Tac®, and Ferrero Rocher®. More than 47,000 employees are passionate about helping people celebrate life's special moments. The Ferrero Group's family culture, now in its third generation, is based on dedication to quality and excellence, heritage and a commitment to the planet and communities in which we operate. Ferrero entered the North American market in 1969 and has grown to more than 5,400 employees in 15 plants and warehouses, and eight offices in North America across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. It has expanded its presence and portfolio with the addition of iconic brands such as Butterfinger®, CRUNCH®, Keebler®, Famous Amos®, Mother's Cookies®, and other distinctive cookie and chocolate brands. Follow @FerreroNACorp on Twitter and Instagram. Media contact: rblock@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Ferrero North America Sign in to access your portfolio
