Blasting off this June from Hershey are two new crunchable candies — Jolly Rancher Double Blasts and Jolly Rancher Sourbolt Blasts. As their name suggests, Double Blasts combine two flavors in each candy; combos include cherry/orange, blue raspberry/lime, strawberry/apple and mango/lemon. They are described as flavor-infused, powder-filled candy.

The Sourbolt Blasts lineup includes Sour Apple, Sour Watermelon, Sour Blue Raspberry and Sour Strawberry. Both new items are offered in singles with a suggested retail price of 65 cents, and in 5-ounce peg bags with a suggested retail price of $1.59.

Ghirardelli is offering discriminating chocolate lovers four new chocolate bar options formulated for what the company describes as “distinct and pleasurable” everyday moments. Each of the 3.5-ounce Intense Dark Gourmet Chocolate Bars has a suggested retail price of $2.99. Varieties include a 72 percent cacao Twilight Delight; 60 percent cacao Citrus Sunset, which combines dark chocolate with orange and crunchy caramel bits; Toffee Interlude, which contains 48 percent cacao, crunchy toffee and caramelized almonds; and Espresso Escape, a 60 percent cacao-content bar made with finely ground, deep-roasted espresso beans.

The Glo Popcifier is a light-up lollipop pacifier that comes in three flavors — blue raspberry, strawberry and green apple. Each extra-large, pacifier-shaped lollipop sports 28 grams of candy and is fat-free. The Popcifiers, which have an on/off switch, are recommended for children ages five and older. The Glo Popcifier display box holds 12 Popcifiers (4 of each flavor), and there are 6 display boxes in a master case.

This remake of Kidsmania’s popular gummy item, Oh Ratz, boasts two hard candy lollipops of different flavors in the form of rats. A container shaped like a trash can is filled with a flavored sour dip that includes bits of popping candy for special effect. The “explosive” sour dip comes in three flavors — green apple, watermelon and blue raspberry. The suggested retail price is 99 cents to $1.29.

Atkinson Candy Co. has re-launched its 15-cent Peanut Butter Bars to complement its 15-cent Chick-O-Sticks. The 0.7-ounce bars combine a crunchy candy coating with a peanut butter filling and come in 36-count boxes that ship 12 per case.  

Four new hard candy products in colorfully designed bags have made their debut at Sunrise Confections. They include 14.5-ounce Peppermint Starlight Mints and a 22-ounce Big Bag line that consists of Peppermint Starlights, Butterscotch Disks and Cinnamon Disks.

Sweet Soakers are bright-colored squirt guns that come packed with a serving of assorted fruit-flavored dextrose candy. When the candy is gone, Sweet Soakers are fully functional squirt guns. The suggested retail price is 99 cents to $1.29.

Super Bubble Blast features the same taste of the original Super Bubble Gum, but each piece boasts a liquid center. The suggested retail price for a 4.5-ounce peg bag is $1.29 to $1.49. The bags come packed 12 per case.

Tootsie Roll’s Dots and Crows products have a new graphic image that features a larger, more dimensional logo treatment. The graphics update has been incorporated across all sizes and flavor extensions of the product.

Adams & Brooks is offering retailers new clip strips for 3-ounce packages of P-Nuttles in Original Butter Toffee Peanut, Cashew, Almond and Sunflower Kernel varieties. Each bag of P-Nuttles has a suggested retail price of 99 cents. The 12-count clip strips come packed six per case. The product is individually boxed for display from side or front.

Designed to be worn on a thumb, this new lick-and-dip treat comes in three varieties — strawberry, apple and cola. The suggested retail price is $1.29. Thumb Dippers come in 24-count display boxes packed six per case.

Sunrise offers Orange Slices, Fruit Slices and Spice Drops in new 30-ounce Value Bags. Like their 14-ounce counterparts, these new packages boast bold, brightly colored graphics.

AirHeads Xtremes offer kids endless possibilities for fun with its sweet-sour  flavor in a brilliantly colored five-color belt. The package features eye-grabbing, vibrant graphics. Xtremes are available in two varieties, Sweetly Sour and 5 Color Rainbow Berry. Suggested retail price is 59 cents for a 2-ounce tray.

All natural Dolcetto Wafer Rolls in cappuccino, tiramisu and chocolate varieties are the newest product line from Fusion Gourmet. Wafer rolls have zero trans fat and boast elegant, vintage-style packaging.

The 14.1-ounce tin has a suggested retail price range of $5.99 to $6.99, ships six tins per case and 32 tins per shipper. The 4.4-ounce box’s suggested retail price range is $1.99 to $2.49, with 12 boxes per case and 72 boxes per shipper.

Imagine getting your daily fix of chocolate plus healthy omega-3 fatty acids in one yummy product. That’s the premise behind the new Choco-Omeg line of chocolates (bars and boxed pieces) from Canada’s Dynamic Chocolates, a division of Utah-based Alpine Confections. The line recently made its debut in a number of Canadian pharmacies and drug stores. Dynamic Chocolates is working now to sell U.S. retailers on the merits of its new premium, functional chocolates.

If you’re a follower of nutrition news, you may know that omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish oil and flaxseed, among other sources, are associated with a variety of health benefits, and that most people don’t get an adequate supply through diet alone. Omega-3s are not associated with great taste, however, so arriving at a palatable formulation for the chocolates took some doing.

 Fortunately, Dynamic Chocolates had the right person for the job — Gale Rudolph, Ph.D. — an experienced R&D professional with a background in both the food industry and the nutritional supplements business. Rudolph spent nearly two years arriving at a formulation that artfully blends premium Belgian chocolate with omega-3s and a variety of other vitamins, minerals and phytochemical compounds.

There are three varieties — each formulated to deliver a specific benefit. The Memory Formula (chocolate with an orange flavor) includes Choline and omega-3s to promote healthy memory and brain functions; the Calcium Formula (milk chocolate with cookie bits) boasts 400 mg of calcium per bar plus selected fruit antioxidants; and the Cardio Formula (dark chocolate with raspberry pieces) contains 400 mg of omega-3s, which are associated with heart health.  

Getting shelf space in the over-the-counter-drug set is challenging thanks to competition from deep-pocketed pharmaceutical companies, reports Sam Macdonald, Dynamic Chocolates' vice president of marketing and sales. The company is seeking placement in the supplement aisle for the boxed SKUs and in the nutrition bar section for the Choco-Omeg bars.

A 30-piece box of the chocolates carries a suggested retail price of $12.99; the bars will sell for $1.99 each. All are marketed under the brand name Botticelli — a popular boxed chocolate label in Canada.

Almost every one who targets a novelty/interactive product to children talks about the importance of "play value." Marketers at Sweet Cred Corp. USA are especially big believers. The novelty/interactive confectionery SKUs Sweet Cred markets all feature candy, of course, but the emphasis is more on the toy component than the candy.

"Our message is that Sweet Cred is about big treat/less sweet," says national sales manager, Francesco Marraffa. That way, he explains, the products deliver plenty of fun for their youthful target consumers without raising any diet/nutrition red flags for mom or dad. And with retail price points ranging from $2.99 to $4.99, the products deliver a nice ring for retailers as well.

The name Sweet Cred plays off the slang expression, "street cred," and many of the Sweet Cred items are built around a group of hip and edgy toy characters. To keep the kid-appeal fresh, the product assortment rotates every three months.

The lineup of Sweet Cred items includes, among others: Movables, which feature action toys (aero fans, skateboarders, choppers, etc.) atop a tube of candy; Candy Cuties, which are hand-painted porcelain dolls paired with lollipops; and Jackpot Bags, pre-filled sacks of candy, toys, and educational games and puzzles. A variety of changemaker items are offered as well.