Better Sour Co., a new candy company dedicated to celebrating culture through sour flavors from around the world, will debut at Natural Products Expo West 2023.
Founders Bella Hughes and Semira Nikou both grew up in Honolulu, Hawai‘i and are daughters of Iranian immigrants. They decided to focus on on sour gummies after spotting a gap in the candy aisle despite a rising interest by consumers for global flavors.
“We’re positively obsessed with the flavor sour and are excited to create space for more diverse and inclusive flavors in our favorite category: sour gummy candy,” says Hughes, who serves as head of business development.
“We’ve noted a lack of innovation in the candy aisle, with even the better-for-you set focused on Western-centric flavors,” Nikou, the company’s CEO, goes on to explain. “We created Better Sour as a response to the rising interest in global flavors and heritage-rich brands. Better Sour is the candy for today’s multicultural landscape, self-described foodies and adventurous eaters.”
The company is launching with two mixed-bag varieties. The first is a nod to flavors popular in the Middle East: pomegranate, apricot, and plum. The second SKU pays homage to sour fruits and snacks from the Asia-Pacific region that are enjoyed across the Hawaiian Islands: guava, calamansi and ume plum.
The packaging features a a custom, sun-shaped design inspired by the company’s lady sun logo. According to the company, the gummies are 100 percent plant-based and made with clean ingredients free of any artificial colors, flavors, or dyes. Each 1.8-ounce bag contains three grams of sugar and 60 calories.
