• by Sarah Mahoney , Staff Writer, 7 hours ago

Gen Z and Gen Alpha may currently be obsessed with plenty of newfangled gummy, squishy and squirty fruit candies. But Ferrara thinks Jelly Belly --acquired in 2023 -- is ready for a major comeback.

With "Bean Appétit," from Minneapolis-based agency Mono, it's channeling its flavor precision through the eyes of a slightly more sophisticated candy consumer: someone snacking on the tiny jelly beans one by one, savoring favorites like Wild Cherry or Cotton Candy, or starting Reddit food fights about Buttered Popcorn or Juicy Pear.

Lauren Pezza, Jelly Belly global marketing director at Ferrara Candy Co., tells CPG Insider about the flavor insights and retail muscle working to drive this comeback.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CPG Insider: Why did this campaign take more than a year to get here?

Lauren Pezza: When Ferrara acquired Jelly Belly, we knew immediately that we had inherited one of the most iconic brands in America. Consumer awareness is in the 90th percentile. But Jelly Belly had also lost visibility compared to its heyday in the '80s and '90s. It was important for us to dig in and understand the history and depth there.

We fielded consumer research, but even more importantly, we did a ton of social listening, sifting through billions of Jelly Belly conversations. And one of the things we learned was that Jelly Belly was never really just a jelly bean to consumers. It's consistently perceived as more of a flavor experience that's disguised as candy. People don't eat Jelly Belly the way most people eat sugar candy.

CPG Insider: As in, shoveling handfuls into your mouth?

Pezza: Yes. Consumers are eating them one by one, or picking one or two and putting them together, comparing them online, debating. Buttered Popcorn is hands down the most polarizing -- people either love it or hate it. Same with Juicy Pear. So there's this tasting and discovery culture surrounding the brand, which is its point of differentiation versus other sugar candy brands. That insight became a huge unlock for us -- the "aha" moment. This brand was originally built on something super-powerful: unbelievably true-to-life flavors. And we needed to get back to that.

CPG Insider: "Bean Appétit" is a pun, but you're also positioning this as genuinely elevated. Isn't that a little snobby?

Pezza: It goes back to the fact that it's candy. People eat it to invoke joy and pleasure. It's less about sitting down to a multicourse meal -- it's almost making fun of that, in a way. It's kind of saying, we know we're just candy, but we know we're a little bit more on the higher end, and we're super proud of that. We are not trying to make Jelly Belly feel luxurious or pretentious. We're really just here to celebrate the joy of flavor and taste discovery.

That said, we did lock in on a consumer profile we named the "social epicurean": someone who loves to treat themselves and others to the finer things, whose love language is sharing experiences, who's always tapping into new things. The people who often host the party.

CPG Insider: How is the retail strategy changing?

Pezza: Right now, we're working through packaging innovation that can lend itself in a more modern way, in more kinds of stores. We know there is more enjoyment when the flavors are separated, as they are in specialty retail. That's the spirit of the brand, and a priority. But we need to gain better visibility, and the only way to do it is to ensure that it gets into retailers that are a little more mass. So we are working on the right price-pack architecture, so that the brand can live in both the specialty world, in its gifting space, and in places like Walmart, Target, Costco and Kroger. We'll also do limited-time offers.

CPG Insider: You've also rationed the flavor count. Why?

Pezza: There are over 100 flavors, but a huge finding from our consumer research was that the higher the number of flavors in a given mix, the higher the chances of finding unwanted beans. People had to fish through licorice or chocolate pudding flavors they didn't love. We tested pulling back from something like 49 flavors, and it actually performed better to have closer to 10 to 20 in a given bag.

So we've launched curated collections -- Signature 10 and Signature 20 for the best fruit flavors and classics, plus three themed collections: Farmstand Fruit, Endless Summer, and Tropical Paradise. That last one includes Chili Mango, because that sweet-spicy thing is very much a moment right now.

CPG Insider: And the media plan?

Pezza: We have two new ad spots: Very Cherry and Strawberry Jam, which is my personal favorite flavor, a sleeper in the portfolio. Each spot takes you into a flavor world: someone holds a jelly bean, then it transports you into that flavor's world, then brings you back. They started airing March 1 and will run throughout the year on linear TV, YouTube, Hulu, social. The spots will actually air during the World Cup this summer, which is very exciting. And we have paid social content featuring Juicy Pear, Watermelon, and a Buttered Popcorn spot.