UK-based start-up Wild Thingz is aiming to make a splash in the confectionery category with reduced-sugar sweets, which, combined with packaging featuring a venus flytrap mascot and variants including Gummy Grubs and Cola Snails, is intended to “delight kids and reassure parents”.
Founder and CEO Fliss Newland, a former Mondelez International executive, tells Just Food’s Andy Coyne that research the company has commissioned suggests the London business is on the right track.
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Andy Coyne (AC): Fliss, your stated aim is to shake up the UK confectionery market. Does it need shaking up?
Fliss Newland (FN): What we have seen is a niche in the market for a family-friendly sweet with low sugar and no artificials. Our study with [market research organisation] YouGov showed parents are reluctant to shop in this category. You can strip the sugar out but sweets may still be filled with gelatine, additives or thickeners. The UK confectionery market is worth £2.25bn ($2.91bn), according to Nielsen data, but it’s plagued by outdated options that either pack in the junk or disguise themselves as ‘better-for-you’ snacks that miss the mark on taste and fun.
AC: What else did the research show?
FN: The research revealed that parents are caught in a sweet dilemma. Of those surveyed, 64% are ‘reluctants’, hesitant to buy sweets due to worries about sugar and additives, 32% are ’rejoicers’, happy to let their kids indulge and 4% are ‘rejectors,’ saying no to sweets entirely. Wild Thingz is designed to help ‘reluctants’ feel good about saying yes because these sweets tick all the boxes. For too long, the sweets aisle has been a battleground for parents, torn between their kids’ demands for fun treats and their own concerns about sugar, additives and artificial ingredients. Wild Thingz delivers on both taste and health.
AC: You talk of “joy without the junk”. What are the better-for-you credentials of your sweets?
FN: They have around half the sugar of traditional brands, are 100% organic and plant-based and have no artificial ingredients. A lot of brands with no sugar have sweeteners whereas our products are natural.
AC: There are a lot of better-for-you sweets out there. I’m thinking of brands like Candy Kittens as well as supermarket own-brand offerings. What’s your USP?
FN: There are lots of organic sweets out there but they tend to lack the fun factor and are often in plain packaging. A lot of them are very much targeting a more adult consumer. We are more like a better-for-you Haribo.
AC: You have a confectionery background, having spent six years at Cadbury owner Mondelez International where you worked in the UK and South East Asia. How has that shaped what you are doing now with Wild Thingz?
FN: The Mondelez experience in South East Asia was amazing. What was interesting was that the company had a much lower brand penetration out there than elsewhere so it gave me an idea of the barriers facing a smaller brand. I left Mondelez in 2022. I wasn’t actually looking for a business to take over at that point. I thought it would be my end goal. But not that it would happen so quickly.
AC: How did Wild Thingz come about?
FN: I took over an existing business called Just Whole Foods about a year ago. It had been around for many years and was known for products such vegan jelly and Veggie Bears. I’m vegan myself and passionate about vegan food. The company existed in a different format as a niche vegan brand. The main thing I got from this was the recipe. Our sweets have a hugely innovative recipe. It’s very low sugar with no artificial ingredients. That’s what turned my head when looking to take on new ownership. I also inherited their relationship with a third party manufacturer. We also inherited fantastic relationships in the natural sector which support distribution. The last year and a half I’ve spent on product development, working on brand development and getting into our creative strategy.
AC: Your messaging is around vegan, organic, better-for-you and no artificials. Aren’t there too many messages here and a risk you might confuse consumers about what you are all about?
FN: Our big two messages are half the sugar and no artificials. We are vegan but that’s a back-up message. Our sugar level is 27g per 100g. We say we are on average around half the sugar of normal sweets.
AC: Tell me how your products are distributed.
FN: We sell through Amazon and TikTok Shop and we have seen some really strong early sales online. Our focus on the offline sector is twofold. In the natural, organic sector in health food stores and through premium convenience. We have just launched with CN Foods, a London-based, premium foods distributor. Another pillar is getting into entertainment and leisure venues, tourist hot spots and festivals to build a community of families. This is something we are trying to fire up.
AC: What about the large grocery chains?
FN: Our north star would be to be in every grocery multiple but what we really want is to bring an incremental footfall of parents who were reluctant to shop sweets. We are certainly engaging with the challenger brand schemes grocers are putting out there. Our hat is in the ring.
AC: Premium usually comes at a price. Is this an issue in the sweets category?
FN: We’d be more toward Candy Kittens than Haribo when it comes to price – mainstream premium. But sweets as a category is very affordable within the context of chocolate and cocoa prices. Our little packs have fewer than 80 calories and sell for around £0.99 to £1.25. They are an affordable on-the-go treat.
AC: Do you have ambitions to sell your products outside the UK?
FN: America is very exciting. Maybe at some point in the future but for now our strategy if based around the UK.
