Swedish gummy candy BUBS make their American debut

When it comes to covering the classic brands of American candy, Snackology has you covered. If there’s a new kind of M&Ms or Reese’s Cups on the way, I’m gonna track them down and give you all the info you need.

I’m going global with today’s newsletter, though, diving into the four flavors of BUBS — “iconic Swedish candy brand and social media sensation” — that are now working their way onto shelves across the United States.

Because I’m not on TikTok and almost 40, I wasn’t familiar with BUBS until the press release announcing their imminent arrival landed in my email.

BUBS built a cult following in Sweden since its founding in 1992, but it was TikTok that turned the brand into an international obsession in 2024. Videos of the candy’s unique chewy-meets-marshmallow texture and playful oval and skull shapes generated billions of views, sparking demand among U.S. candy lovers eager for a taste. BUBS heard their fans and answered, bringing their beloved candies to candy aisles nationwide.

Based on my research, BUBS are available in a wild variety of flavors, but we’re going to get four to start over here in America: Sweet Banana Toffee Ovals, Sour Lemon Raspberry Skulls, Sour Strawberry Vanilla Diamonds and Sour Tutti Frutti Diamonds.

I’ve covered a bunch of new gummy candy this year, including Skittles Gummies Fuego and Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish that glow under a black light. How will BUBS compare to the American brands we’re used to seeing in our candy aisles?

What they cost

With BUBS just making their way into the United States, I’ve yet to see how much each 5.5 oz. bag is selling for at the moment. (You can buy them from non-domestic shippers, but I’m not sure what the standard rate would be if you buy them through those venues.)

My thoughts

Based on the flavors that I’ve seen available online, BUBS aren’t exclusively a sour candy (there’s a Cool Cola flavor that I’d love to try), but of the four flavors debuting in America, three of them are definitely sour.

I started my journey into the world of BUBS with the Sweet Banana Toffee Ovals. Both myself and my wife love candy with that very specific artificial banana flavor. This flavor of BUBS more than delivers on that flavor, pairing it with toffee.

Each Sweet Banana Toffee Oval is its own mix of those two flavors — the banana and toffee sides are distinct flavors instead of just being mixed together and colored differently. If you just want to enjoy some banana gummy candy, go ahead and only eat the banana sides of the Ovals.

The description of BUBS having a “chewy-meets-marshmallow texture” is dead on when it comes to the Sweet Banana Toffee Ovals. There’s even a touch of marshmallow flavor mixed in.

Now it was time to turn to the three bags of sour flavors, starting with Sour Lemon Raspberry Skulls. Thanks to this flavor, I now know that “skalle” is Swedish for “skull.” (This language lesson was actually super helpful since I originally thought these guys were squids.)

Oh boy, are these sour.

But, like, a good sour?

My taste buds give Sour Lemon Raspberry Skulls high marks — the flavors are strong, the sour levels will knock you back a step — but I’m pretty sure that each additional one of these BUBS that I ate wore away a bit more of my tongue. Gonna keep eating them, though.

The next two flavors became a bit more tame, with Sour Strawberry Vanilla Diamonds taking things down a notch thanks to “the creamy sweetness of vanilla” mellowing the tanginess out.

I enjoyed this flavor combo and found them much easier to keep eating than the Sour Lemon Raspberry Skulls.

The last stop on my American tour of BUBS was the Sour Tutti Frutti Diamonds. The yellow/green color combo put my brain in a “lemon lime” space, but I really couldn’t place what flavors “Tutti Fruitti” were going for.

Snack score

Sweet Banana Toffee Ovals: 🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)
Sour Lemon Raspberry Skulls: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
Sour Strawberry Vanilla Diamonds: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
Sour Tutti Frutti Diamonds: 🍪🍪 (2 out of 5 cookies)

The Sweet Banana Toffee Ovals flavor of BUBS was by far our runaway favorite. The bag was gone before I even returned to the other three flavors. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy them again if and when I find them in stores later this year.

Hopefully BUBS’s arrival in America will get families over here on board with “lördagsgodis or ‘Saturday sweets,’ a decades-old tradition of selecting a personalized paper bag full of favorites.” In fairness, this is what I already do every time I visit Target on the weekend. It’s just fun to have a term for it.

BUBS were provided to Snackology for this independent review.