50 new sweet and treat lines from the National Convenience Show

From healthier snacks to super sour candies, the National Convenience Show was brimming with new product lines to cater for all ages and tastes. Here we give you a flavour of all the new products and trends confectionery suppliers are sweet on in 2024

One pound PMP Choc Nibbles bags to hit the market

Choc Nibbles are launching in £1 pricemarked 130g bags this August, alongside a £1 pricemarked 120g bar. The bags are available in original, orange, toffee crumble and mint flavours, while the bar is original milk chocolate. “We’re driving growth on our Choc Nibbles range in general, including our bars, because we’re able to hit that sweet £1 price point,” says James Jeffery, head of sales at Sweetdreams. “It’s been a good few years since Mondelez, Nestle and the like have been at that price. There isn’t any branded confectionery at £1 any more, even the sugar guys have moved to £1.25. 

“We recognise that it’s important for retailers to offer that value and for consumers to have the prices they want. For convenience, we think this will be game changing. We’re established in jars for 40 years, but we’re coming into bars and bags and trying to shake it up a bit.” 

Coffee takes on a bar format with Plamil Foods’ latest launch

Plamil Foods is offering an alternative to a chocolate bar with its “world first” coffee bar. Made from coffee beans roasted in small batches, The Coffee Bar offers a smooth mouthfeel and contains 10mg of caffeine. Plamil claims that the bar enables consumers to enjoy coffee on the go, whilst removing the risk of spillages. 

“Nobody has done this before,” says CEO Adrian Ling. “Coffee made into a bar is a simple concept that sounds strange, but a coffee bar makes a lot of sense if you compare coffee to chocolate. The great taste and smooth mouthfeel is due to unique production technique. It’s taken a year of intense development, but we finally cracked the recipe to create a coffee bar”.

Health and sustainability drive NPD at BIP Candy

BIP Candy & Toys UK has launched “the first paper-pressed egg in the UK market” with its Paw Patrol Real Good Egg. “Even though we sell products in plastic, we’re trying to cut out as much as we can,” says head Of commercial Lee Fretwell. “We’re trying to reduce our plastic, so we’ve also put paper trays in [some of] our products.”

Also, new for Paw Patrol is “the first ever sugar-free lollipop under licence in the market”, claims Fretwell. “You’d be able to put that by the till if your store has [HFSS] restrictions.” 

Another eye-catching new line is the Mobile Pop Flip & Lick lolly. The flip top Apple-style plastic phones open up to reveal large lollipops in three flavours. “We’ve made it NAFNAC (No Added Flavours, No Added Colours),” says Fretwell.

The firm is also growing its Magic Rainbow range with dino and unicorn belts, which are set to launch later this month.

Brain Blasterz Super Sour Gummies set to fizz things up

Super sour Brain Blasterz Gummies Bolts made their debut at the show. “We’re all about sour, it’s hugely trending at the minute,” says Eliot Holmes, head of UK sales at Brain Blasterz. “We have a sour scale from five to one so you kind of know what you’re getting before you put it in your mouth, which is great for kids, so they know they’re not going to buy something they can’t handle. 

“We’re behind the trend a little bit in the UK, but sour is a huge trend, particularly in Scandinavia and the Middle East.” 

Bazooka powers sour trend with more NPD

Juicy Drop Mallows and Tropical Juicy Drop Blasts are rolling out over June and July. 

Sweet and sour fizzy Juicy Drop Mallows (100g, RRP £1.25) come in Raspberry and Cola flavours, while Tropical Juicy Drop Blasts (120g, RRP £1.15) are chews filled with sour powder. They come in pineapple coconut, passionfruit, mango, banana, lime and watermelon. 

The firm also showcased its £1 PMP 120g Bazooka Splashz Fruit Fiesta bags. The chewy sweets contain a juicy centre and dual flavours include mango-pear, lemon-strawberry, grape-sour cherry, and apple-peach. “With Splashz, it was all aimed at the teen market and sharing with friends,” says Jon Boulton, national account manager - wholesale, Bazooka Candy. “We used the Bazooka brand because people remember it of old, but the youngsters don’t know it so it was something for them to pick up on. We’ve also found that a lot of adults from a nostalgia point of view are saying ‘I remember Push Pops, I’ll try some’.” 

Hancocks reveals NPD for teens, kids and women

World of Sweets is certainly living up to its name with a plethora of new launches. The firm, which owns Hancocks Cash & Carries, has unveiled Sour Punch Pickle Roulette and Sour Punch Bites, which sees fruit flavoured sweets, mixed in with gherkin flavours. “We think these will be fabulous in convenience because the super sour trend continues to be massive,” says Kathryn Hague, head of marketing at World of Sweets. “Tik Tok has had a massive role to play in terms of kids trying super super sour sweets.”

Jolly rancher ice poles are another new addition. The American sweet brand is already well known in the UK within confectionery and slush categories, and Hague is confident it will be a hit it the new format. “Jolly rancher has a really strong taste, so it’s like an ice cold treat that absolutely packs a punch,” she says.

Meanwhile, Kids novelty brand Crazy Candy Factory has welcomed the arrival of Gummy Noodles. Imitating instant noodles, pots not only contain gummy noodles, but also liquid candy ‘sauce’ and edible chopsticks. 

Barrett Jelly Ropes with sugar crystals on them are another newcomer. The Wham- and Fruit Salad-branded Jelly Ropes are flagged up as ‘under 100 calories’, which Hague believes will appeal to women after a sweet treat that they don’t have to feel guilty about.

Over in the teens market the firm’s Sweet Vibes range of bags, shaker pots, and marshmallows. The range plays to young people’s love of different textures and flavours, as well as chocolate and sugar confectionery into single packs. The Sweet Vibes Freakshakes bags and shaker cups come in strawberry, chocolate and banana variants featuring themed pick ‘n’ mix style sweets.

The brand is also introducing Sweet Vibes Mallow Dunkz in strawberry and vanilla flavours, which feature marshmallows coated in chocolate, surrounded by a sugar shell. “One of the reasons we’re excited about these is … the price of cocoa is going through the roof, so these are for when you want a chocolate treat, but also a Jelly treat and it’s going to be an accessible price point,” she says, adding that ensuring the brand has unisex appeal was another key consideration.

Hague also highlights the company’s ‘Healthier at Hancocks’ initiative which has seen the wholesaler take on a selection of better for you lines, including protein bars, such as Clif, Warrior Crunch, Prodough, Barebells and Grenade.

“Protein has come back, I think market leaders have played a massive role in that,” she says. “Grenade Oreo … blew the market open because it made protein fun in terms of that flavour profile. It’s tapping into the fact that people do want protein but they don’t want to be eating a piece of cardboard, they want to have something that’s flavourful.”

Epicurium grows its healthier treats lineup

Healthy snack wholesaler Epicurium had a host of new additions on display at the show, including lines from CNP, SOAK’d Oats, Jade & Joy, Sugar N Spice and Waffuls. 

The donut-inspired Prodough bar (RRP £2.25) from CNP is available in five flavours: The Jammy One, The Biscuit One, The Glazed One, Dough-Lightful and Chocamel. These high-protein, centre-filled bars pack in 17g of protein and are low in sugar.

Gut friendly oat bar SOAK’d Oats has two new flavours at Epicurium: Apple & Raisin with cinnamon and Peanut Butter & Banana. Each 42g bar (RRP £1.45) is plant based and high in fibre.

Epicurium has also welcomed Jade & Joy Wellbeing Bars in Double Choc Brownie, Caramel Blondie and Speculoos variants (RRP £1.99 each) and Vegan Collagen Bars in Salted Caramel, Cookie Crumb and Marshmallow Biscuit flavours (RRP £2.49 each). Their taste profiles mirror a typical chocolate bar, but with a high protein hit. 

The wholesaler has added four new lines from Sugar N Spice. The ambient Muffin (RRP £1.45), is available in Decadent Chocolate; Fruity Blueberry; Raspberry & White Chocolate; and Seriously Sticky Toffee flavours.

Waffuls is the final addition to the mix. The soft waffle sandwiches are available in Cocoa & Hazelnut Cream, Strawberry, Vanilla and Apple, as well as two Dark Waffle variants: Cocoa Cream and Salted Caramel. Each 50g pack retails at £1.