For the past decade, gummies have been the darling of the functional food world—whether you wanted melatonin, electrolytes, or prebiotics, you could bet there was a gummy for that. But with ubiquity comes saturation. Consumers are starting to show gummy fatigue, and formulators are scrambling for the next “it” format. Enter the fruit chew: a softer, more forgiving confection that combines nostalgic candy appeal with modern better-for-you credentials. With the right fiber, sweetener, and fruit systems, fruit chews can do everything a gummy can—sometimes better. The big question is: are fruit chews the new gummy?

The consumer pull

Fruit chews hit a sweet spot between indulgence and wellness. They deliver a Starburst-like sensory experience with less stickiness, fewer off-notes, and more flexibility for fibers, rare sugars, and functional ingredients. Where gummies are often dismissed as “candy with vitamins,” fruit chews can credibly stretch into sports nutrition, kids’ snacks, gut health, and functional wellness. And importantly, the fruit chew shelf is nowhere near as crowded as the gummy wall at your local retailer. That means opportunity.

Formulation strategy: Building the matrix

For reduced sugar fruit chews, each ingredient plays a key structural or sensory role:

• Fibers for body and function: Soluble tapioca fiber provides bulk and mild gelling. Chicory root inulin adds prebiotic claims and firmer bite. Gum acacia smooths flavor release and increases heat tolerance. Partially hydrolyzed guar gum (PHGG) adds gut-health positioning and elasticity.
• Sweetener stacks: Allulose is the workhorse for bulk sweetness and sugar-mimetic temporal profile. High-purity stevia delivers top notes, while monk fruit rounds bitterness. Thaumatin, a protein-based sweetener, extends sweetness and lifts fruit identity. Vegetable glycerin softens texture and controls water migration.
• Fruit and acid systems: Fruit concentrates (8–16%) establish identity and color. Citric or malic acid (0.2–0.7%) sharpen flavor perception and counter fiber dullness. Ascorbic acid contributes antioxidant stability.

Fruit chews vs. gummies: A formulator’s comparison

From a formulation standpoint, fruit chews offer far more flexibility for sugar reduction and functional positioning. They can incorporate higher levels of fiber, enabling “no added sugar” and “good source of fiber” claims, while still maintaining a soft, forgiving bite. Gummies struggle in this area; reducing sugar can quickly lead to rubbery textures, stickiness, or firmness issues, and fiber inclusion is much more limited.

Processing is also more straightforward for fruit chews, which typically rely on syrup cooking and pectin, with no starch beds required. Gummies, on the other hand, require more gelatin or pectin management and often depend on starch moguls. Stability also favors fruit chews, which perform well at aw 0.55–0.60, whereas gummies are more prone to stickiness, sweating, or hardening. Flavor performance is another differentiator. Fruit chews tend to deliver brighter fruit notes and cleaner sweetness, while gummies often face muted flavors or off-notes.

Overall, fruit chews represent an open field for innovation, while gummies are a more mature, crowded category with tighter formulation constraints.

Fruit chews may very well be the new gummy. They offer indulgence, functionality, and label optics that resonate with today’s consumers—without the technical headaches that often plague sugar-reduced gummies. For formulators, fruit chews are a wide-open space: flexible in application, forgiving in processing, and perfectly aligned with the better-for-you movement. The brands that plant their flag early in this category will be the ones consumers remember when they trade in their gummy jar for a bag of functional fruit chews.

Related: Icon Foods cracks code on reduced-sugar formulation