Over 14,500 attendees gathered in Indianapolis last week for the 2025 Sweets & Snacks Expo, where major food brands like Hershey, Ferrero, Conagra Brands, and Mars Wrigley displayed their flagship products. Nearby, hundreds of smaller candy and snack innovators showcased their unique offerings in compact booths, presenting their creations to retailers, competitors, and other attendees. While some products are just a few months old, others have been around for several years. What unites these manufacturers is their quest for a breakthrough or their ambition to expand in a food market overflowing with options. Here are five standout products that caught our eye:
Fizzy Breath Refreshment
The brand breathROX aims to rejuvenate a stale category with its innovative breath mints. Featuring Pop Rocks-like crystals that help clean the mouth, zinc to neutralize bad breath, and a popping action to stimulate saliva production, breathROX is a fresh approach to breath fresheners. Jonathan Tanner, the CEO, noted that the breath mint market has seen little innovation in decades, being largely dominated by brands like Altoids and Tic Tac, which he describes as “perfume candy.” “We’re trying to do something that hasn’t been done in nearly 30 years,” Tanner remarked. Originally launched in 2013, breathROX garnered over $3 million in sales mainly through home shopping channels and Facebook. After a dormant period during the pandemic, Tanner and his team revitalized the brand and relaunched it with former Pop Rocks executive Lynn Hesson in 2023. Now available in around 4,000 locations, including 2,300 Circle K stores, breathROX comes in four flavors: blue raspberry, cinnamon, mint, and watermelon. This summer, the brand plans to introduce caffeinated popping candy infused with ashwagandha, B vitamins, ginseng, L-theanine, magnesium, and zinc, offering the energy equivalent of a cup of coffee in each pouch.
GoGo Squeez’s Active Evolution
Bel Brands’ GoGo Squeez is on a mission to show that apple sauce pouches can appeal to more than just children. Last year, they launched GoGo Squeez Active Fruit Blend with Electrolytes, designed for active pre-teens, teens, and adults, featuring no added sugar and high vitamin C content. “We want to keep that consumer,” explained Danielle Kellington-Welsh, national account manager at Bel Brands. The Active line includes the original apple sauce base but adds strawberry, pineapple, and orange purees. Unlike other electrolyte products, these pouches are convenient and shelf-stable for up to a year.
Hormbles Chormbles: A Sweet Healthier Option
Jared Smith, co-founder of the protein snack maker RxBar, introduced Hormbles Chormbles, a high-protein chocolate brand utilizing whey and milk proteins, cocoa powder, monk fruit, and other ingredients. With flavors like classic milk, salted fudge, peanut butter, and cookies & cream, each bar has 10 grams of protein, zero sugar, and only 100 calories. Smith identified a significant gap in the chocolate category, which has seen little innovation recently. “The chocolate aisle is filled with brands from childhood; nothing new has emerged,” he stated. After selling RxBar for $600 million in 2017, Smith is eager to see how consumers respond to this new venture, which aims to appeal to health-conscious individuals who enjoy candy.
FocusFuel: Energizing the Market
In an energy sector dominated by powders and canned drinks, Brandon Herwig and his partners developed FocusFuel, a gummy designed to deliver a smooth energy boost without the jitters typical of caffeinated products. Initially aimed at gamers, FocusFuel quickly attracted a broader audience, including busy parents and college students looking for quick energy solutions. Each gummy contains 50 milligrams of caffeine, allowing users to control their intake more easily than with traditional energy drinks. FocusFuel’s first year saw $1.5 million in sales, primarily through direct-to-consumer channels. Herwig envisions FocusFuel as a flexible alternative to coffee, catering to health-conscious consumers.
Endless Fun’s Magical Straws
Endless Fun, based in Minnesota, offers flavored Magic Straws that allow children to enhance their milk with 14 different flavors, from chocolate to cotton candy. Launched nearly 25 years ago, over 1 billion straws have been sold, each containing fewer than five grams of real sugar. Recently, the company expanded its line to encourage more water consumption, offering varieties like peach lemonade and kiwi strawberry that include electrolytes. As consumers sip water, tiny beads in the straw impart the first flavor, followed by effervescent tabs that add a second layer of taste. Endless Fun plans to introduce new products, including an immune defense straw and another targeting probiotics. “Our sales are not slowing down,” said David Ehrlich, vice president of sales, emphasizing that their innovative straws appeal to a wide age range.
These products highlight the creativity and innovation present in the sweets and snacks industry, showcasing how even the smallest brands can make a significant impact in a saturated market. The continuous introduction of unique offerings ensures consumers have exciting choices, whether they are seeking the smallest calcium citrate pills or the latest in snack trends.