• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer @mahoney_sarah, December 13, 2024

Love for gummy candy has swept the nation, and Swedish Fish are swimming with the best of them. Sales of the Mondelez-owned brand topped $133 million last year, up almost 8%. To build on that momentum with its growing Gen-Z audience, the company has launched a new ad campaign. Starting with a felonious Santa, the company wants to build on the many ways people can “sel-fish’ly” enjoy their Swedish Fish. Lauryn McDonough, senior director of candy, tells CPG Insider what’s behind the swelling sales of the gummy category and how Swedish Fish hopes to remain the catch of the day. 

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CPG Insider: What’s behind the rise of gummy candy?

Lauryn McDonough: It is where the momentum is, and up about 8% this year. We’re seeing tons of brands move into the format because this is such a popular part of the non-chocolate candy category. The gummy world has become crowded with large national names and smaller newcomers. Many of our competitors, like Nerds, have hit on a multi-textural experience that consumers are very interested in. Others are exploring wider varieties within sour flavors. There are more playful formats.

Swedish Fish have been around for about 40 years and have always been about gumminess, with a texture and flavor people love. We knew we had an opportunity to bring the brand forward and create some exciting communication.

CPG Insider: Is this the brand in your portfolio getting the most marketing attention now?

McDonough: Yes. We also have Sour Patch Kids, and we’ve done some work for them for the holiday. But this “Sel-fish” campaign, starting with Santa, will be the umbrella, the platform we’ll operate from for the next year. We worked with Majority, our agency in Atlanta, on the campaign.

The campaign is all digital, running on social media, especially YouTube. We focused on placing the media where we know this consumer will be. That approach has worked well for us with Sour Patch Kids, too, and we’re using some of what we learned from that brand to inform our media about this.

I’ve been incredibly surprised by how fervent our social media fan base is. They’re engaged, which has helped us develop a unique voice: quirky, irreverent and humorous.

That’s inspired us to take a closer look at our communication strategy and think about how we can build outside that platform. Fans know what they love about Swedish Fish. It’s the flavor, of course, but also the fish shape, the color, the texture -- this whole bundle that is uniquely ours. They recognize it, and they love it.

Something that is unique about Gen Z is the way they love to share, whether on social media or with their friends. The idea behind the campaign -- that Swedish Fish are so good that you don’t want to share -- is kind of playfully subversive and silly.
 

CPG Insider: Who are the biggest fans? The stereotype is that little kids love this type of treat and that as people grow up, they gravitate toward chocolate. Is that true?

McDonough: The main audience for gummy candy is younger consumers. But it's not just kids. Consumption peaks throughout the teens and into the early 20s. There’s also some consumption in some older age groups, especially if they have children. But this campaign is about bringing the conversation back to Swedish Fish for Gen Z.

CPG Insider: How do they perceive Swedish Fish now? As antique, or maybe classic?

McDonough: It is classic in that we’ve been around so long and have a loyal fan base. There’s a bit of a memory structure around the brand. We want to build that relationship with the Gen Z consumer and create that connection, even if they don’t have a long history of the brand.

CPG Insider: Speaking of Sour Patch Kids -- that’s a profoundly different flavor than Swedish Fish. Does anybody like both?

McDonough: It’s so interesting. These intense flavors and sensorial experiences are so important in the category. Some people will never buy sour candy. And some people are so committed to sour candy that they want the most extreme version possible. We even have an extreme variety of Sour Patch Kids. That’s true in plenty of other food and beverage categories, like hot sauces. But it’s true in candy, as well.