Wild Thingz latest sweet series among contenders for World Confectionery Awards honours

British sweet manufacturer, Wild Thingz has unveiled its largest product expansion, as it makes an entry for best product of the year at our World Confectionery Awards, reports Neill Barston.

The company is nominating its latest offerings, Berry Mix and Tropical Mix, delivered as sharing bags, plus  a new family multipack, a more competitive pricing strategy and a rollout across 75 WHSmith Travel locations as it looks to accelerate growth in the better-for-you confectionery category.

Moreover, the company is entering this year’s World Confectionery Awards, with nominations across our six categories closing on Thursday (July 23), with any final entries required by the end of the week at the latest. Nominations, which are entirely free, can be done via our dedicated website, confectioneryconference.com so ensure you make our deadline to see your business in with a chance of gaining global honours.

Notably, the expansion comes as the brand continues its mission to make sweets grown-ups feel good about and kids go wild for, against a backdrop of interest in better-for-you and vegan confectionery ranges.

At the centre of the launch are two standout flavour collections – Berry Mix and Tropical Mix – designed to boost taste appeal through bold, recognisable fruit profiles and playful shapes, aimed at driving taste-led purchase.

Available in two flavour-packed varieties, Tropical Mix blends mango, peach, orange and pineapple, while Berry Mix combines blueberry, strawberry, raspberry and blackcurrant. Each gummy comes in Wild Thingz’s fun bug-inspired shapes, adding an extra element of play to every bag.

Founded in 2024 by former Mondelez marketer Fliss Newland, who claimed a best emerging enterprise accolade at our World Confectionery Conference last September in Brussels, Wild Thingz continues to build distribution across grocery and travel retail channels, with a significant new rollout into 75 WHSmith Travel sites from July 2026 on a minimum 12-month listing.

The rollout includes high-footfall locations across airports, rail stations and hospitals nationwide, including Heathrow and Gatwick airports, London Euston, King’s Cross, Birmingham New Street and the Eurotunnel. The listing also includes shelf checkout ranging in 45 sites and FSDU displays in 41 sites, significantly increasing the visibility and accessibility of better-for-you confectionery within the travel retail channel.

In addition, Wild Thingz is introducing a new Berry Mix Multipack landing in August via Ocado, designed specifically with families in mind, offering five individually portioned packs tailored to summer holidays, and everyday snacking occasions. Each individual 25g pack contains less than 80kcal.

The launch builds on the insight that inspired Wild Thingz from the outset. Research shows 64% of UK parents with children aged 4–12 are reluctant about sweets because of concerns around sugar and artificial ingredients, yet three quarters agree that a childhood without sweets would be a joyless one. Wild Thingz was created to bridge that gap, giving families sweets that deliver on fun without the compromises parents increasingly look for.

“Berry and Tropical are hugely loved flavour profiles, so we’ve doubled down on delivering big, juicy taste in a way that feels fun, accessible and made for modern family life,” said Fliss Newland, founder of Wild Thingz.

“This is about taking a real step forward… bigger flavour, bigger reach, and a bigger role in the category.” Across every format, Wild Thingz continues to build around three core principles: Half the Sugar, Natural Flavours and Plant-Based ingredients*, always using fruit pectin instead of gelatine.