With its introduction of Too Tarts Smart Choice Products, Innovative Candy Concepts becomes the first company to convert its entire product line to a healthier formulation, according to the company. The Too Tarts brand for kids, which includes Sour Blast and Super Sweet spray candies, Xtra Sour Goo, UFOs and Suck Ups, will now be made with fruit juice concentrates equivalent to 100 percent juice. The candy will not contain any refined sugar, calorie content will be reduced 50 to 60 percent, and the taste will be more appealing, according to Innovative Candy Concepts.

This fruit-flavored candy features a refreshing splash of a lasting, “light” sour taste, according to the company. Targeted to teens, young adults and adults, Zip Sours are made with natural flavors and colors. Flavors are Black Cherry, Cranberry, Mandarin Orange and Ruby Red Grapefruit. Packed in individual portable tins with 1.5 ounces of candy, Zip Sours have a suggested retail price range of $1.39
to $1.49.

NECCO, which is licensing Squirrel Brand Company candy, is producing two of the brand’s flagship products in bulk, tubs and counter display boxes. Squirrel Nut Zippers chewy peanut caramel and Squirrel Nut Caramels chewy chocolate peanut caramels are nostalgia candy classics – the company dates back to 1888.

Chupa Chups expects its new Mia Hamm-endorsed, vitamin- and mineral-fortified Creamy Lollipops to score big with moms and kids. Hamm, the 2004 Kids Choice Favorite Female Athlete award winner, represents the healthier lollipop line, fortified with vitamins A and D and calcium, which will hit stores in June. Flavors include Strawberries & Cream, Choco Vanilla, Strawberry Yogurt and Peach Yogurt. They are available in a 12-count peg bag, 30-count laydown bag and 100-count tub.

This “custom” graham cracker is “overloaded” with Campfire Marshmallows, completely covered in milk chocolate and topped with one of three different kinds of candy. The assorted OverLoad S’MOORES three-pack contains one peanut candy, one Rice Krispies candy and one milk chocolate candy-covered treat. Suggested retail price range is 99 cents to $1.29.

Frankford Candy introduces Candy Compact and Candy Lipstick for the little ones who want to play dress up and snack at the same time. Candy Lipstick, with a working mirror on the cap, comes in green apple, blue raspberry and strawberry flavors. Candy Compact also features a working mirror, and a candy stick with two flavors for dipping. Suggested retail price for both items is 99 cents.

Ford’s new Champion Baseball and Champion Football Gumball Machines feature interactive games. Both machines are 10-inches tall, feature spiral drop chute dispensers, include eight ounces of gumballs and game rules on the package, are packed eight machines per case and have a suggested retail price of $7.99. The Champion Baseball Gumball Machine features a baseball pattern imprinted on the dispenser. A baseball play is printed on each gumball to create the game. The Champion Football Gumball Machine features a football pattern imprinted on the dispenser and a football play imprinted on each gumball to help kids play the game.

“A new idea, a new way to chew bubble gum,” is the tagline applied to Lotte USA’s mixed sour berry flavored Bite Me Crunch Bubble Gum. The 5-piece package of gum is available in a 60-count counter display. Ingredients are printed in English and French to facilitate sales in Canada. Green Tea Mint Gum is a natural breath freshener and is also sugar-free. Packs contain 15 pieces.

The June 2004 release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third film based on the blockbuster Harry Potter book series, has inspired Cap to introduce candies inspired directly from its pages. The book’s adolescent wizards-in-training buy their unusual sweets at Honeydukes candy store, and Cap’s new candies feature unique Honeydukes packaging. Ice Mice, featuring a realistic candy mouse inside a berry-flavored hard candy cube, is said to make the teeth “chatter and squeak.” Jewel-toned gummy candy Jelly Slugs come in Juicy Pear, Wild Cherry, Watermelon and Tangerine flavors.

Skinny Truffles, a new line of low-carbohydrate truffles, feature a European chocolate taste profile. Each truffle contains 0.3 to 0.5 grams of net effective carbohydrates depending on flavor. Available in milk chocolate with almond, dark chocolate with espresso, milk chocolate with mint and assorted 3.5-ounce resealable bags, Skinny Truffles have a suggested retail price of $4.99. They are also available in two-piece, individually wrapped packages for 99 cents.

StrawberriCream Cow Tales is Goetze’s newest flavor offering. With strawberry flavored caramel wrapped around a cream center, this 1-ounce caramel sells for 25 cents. It is offered in 12 stand-up boxes in a case of 36 and a Tumbler Combo 100-count case.

Anthony Thomas’ milk chocolate-covered, buttery caramel and crunchy pecan Dainties are featured in a new counter display that holds 20 2-ounce individually wrapped candies. Suggested retail price range is 99 cents to $1.25. Cases hold six boxes.
New Age Confectionery

This Australian company bills its line as “New Age Confectionery.” The line includes sugar-free, fruit-flavored Jols pastilles in black currant, forest berries and orange flavors; long-lasting, sugar-free minty licorice Licorette; high-end, sugar-free, extra-strong Jila Mints and Jila Gum; Glean dental gum; French mini Bon Bons and Bozo Bubblegum Balls.

Screw Ups is the first novelty fruit chew product to be launched in a retail channel, according to Fantazzmo fun stuff! Kids can screw the bottom “wing nut” on the candy’s dispenser to make the candy rise upward. Then they can stretch, pull, twist and eat it to their heart’s delight. Each Screw Ups has two intense fruit flavors twisted together in one dispenser. Flavor combinations are Cherry & Watermelon, Strawberry & Blue Razzberry and Green Apple & Cherry.

The visages of Cinderella, Snow White and Belle grace these Disney Princess Heart Boxes filled with 2 ounces of foiled milk chocolate hearts with creamy fudge centers. Suggested retail price is 99 cents.

Rocklets, a lentil-sized confection available in chocolate-coated and peanut-and-chocolate-coated varieties, will enter the American market with its introduction at the All Candy Expo. One of Arcor’s major brands, Rocklets has been reformulated for the American market to suit American tastes. They will be availale in snack size bags, changemakers, laydown bags and count goods in Halloween and Christmas seasonals.

This new Airheads gum is billed as “The Bubble Gum That Thinks It’s Cotton Candy.” It has the consistency and visual appeal of cotton candy, but once it’s chewed, there is an unexpected transformation into bubble gum.

Designed for on the go snacking, Mike and Ike is now available in 2.12-ounce pouches graced with bold, colorful new graphics. Just Born has also pumped up the chewy candies’ taste with the addition of more fruit juice flavor to a smaller piece size. A new flavor, strawberry, has also been added to Mike and Ike Original Fruits.

Kids can blow these interactive, edible toy/candy bubbles and catch them in their mouths. The 2.37-fluid-ounce packs come with three individual flavor pouches of apple, grape and strawberry. Suggested retail price is $2.99. The container is uniquely shaped to distinguish it from soap bubbles and is designed to require parental assistance for filling. The blow wand is attached to the cap, so fingers do not touch the liquid. Tastee Bubbles can be pegged or displayed in decorative shelf packs of eight.