Bear shakes up kids fruit snacking with new flavours and formats

March 10, 2025 Editor

Bear is shaking up the kids fruit snacking category with new launches to tap into the growing demand for bold, adventurous flavours.

Mango & Sour Berry joins the line-up of Bear Fruit Splits, worth £4.2m (IRI Scantrack, Total Market – Total Bear Fruit Splits. 52 weeks ending 25/01/25. value sales), taking the range to three, specifically developed with older cubs, aged 6-10, in mind.

Like with the rest of the range, the new product is made with real fruit, counts as one of your five-a-day, is high in fibre, and contains no added sugar. This is all while delivering a fun, interactive snacking experience where kids can peel, twist, and squish the fruity sticks together.

Each pack includes a brand-new, collectible Super Science Bear Card – an exciting addition to the iconic Bear cards feature that kids already know and love. Little cubs can swap and share their cards with friends, adding a playful twist to snack time along with collecting and storing their cards on the Bear Adventure App.

Bear Fruit Splits Mango & Sour Berry follows the success of Bear’s Sour Extreme Yoyos, which saw a +10% year-on-year volume growth (IRI Scantrack, Total Market – Total BEAR Sour Extreme. 52 weeks ending 25/01/25. Volume sale), highlighting the strong demand for sour flavours within kids fruit snacking. To support the launch, Bear is rolling out an extensive marketing campaign, including social media activations and targeted advertising, to drive awareness and consumer engagement.

“Building on the success of our Fruit Splits range, including fan favourites like Strawberry & Apple and Raspberry & Pineapple, the new Mango & Sour Berry variant delivers a bold, tangy burst of flavour that’s sure to grab the attention of older kids,” says Jo Agnew, marketing director at Natural Foods UK.

“Demand for sour flavours is surging, especially among ‘grown-up’ kids, driving growth across the confectionery sector in the UK and beyond. We’re excited to bring this trend into the fruit snacking category with Bear Fruit Splits Mango & Sour Berry, giving kids an exciting flavour they can really feel good about eating.

“As kids’ palates mature, sour flavours balance novelty, experimentation, and sensory appeal. The product is the perfect way to keep older kids engaged in the category for longer, offering retailers the chance to continue driving growth in this dynamic space.”

The launch of Fruit Splits Mango & Sour Berry is part of Bear’s ongoing commitment to innovate with both flavours and formats, unlocking new opportunities for retailers to drive category sales. Following the huge success of the Bear Yoyos range, which accounts for 70% of the brand’s total sales4, Bear is also introducing a new Grab Bag Yoyo format for its best-selling Strawberry variant, to meet the growing demand for convenient, on-the-go nutritious snacks.

The packs contain 12 individually wrapped Yoyos in premium, easy-to-tear, Doypack packaging. Building on the popularity of the multipacks and family packs, this new format offers a practical healthy snacking solution for busy families, helping parents keep their cupboards stocked up while expanding Bear Yoyos’ appeal across more occasions.

Agnew continues: “Whether it’s for travel, children’s parties, or family outings, the new format ensures kids can enjoy and share nutritious, fun snacks anytime and anywhere. Each pack also features a brand-new mini Bear card with a QR code, offering cubs a puzzle to solve on the Bear Adventure app.”

Bear Fruit Splits Mango & Sour Berry and Strawberry Yoyo Grab Bags (12 x 10g) are available in Waitrose stores nationwide, RRP £3.50. Fruit Splits Mango & Sour Berry will also roll out in Sainsbury’s from March 2025, RRP £2.85.