This Swedish Treat Is Taking Over The Gummy Market

Nobody expected that in these modern times, candy stores will still be packed with customers. In some cases, the lines can grow so long that a shop outside a shop in Brooklyn, New York, that the owners have to call in a bouncer.

A quick look and the customers are walking out carrying bags stuffed with loot that they guard as if they were carrying prized possessions.

This is now a common sight to see in the United States as the popularity of the Swedish gummies goes up the Reichter scale. Thanks to a hefty push from TikTok creators that has people salivating for a confection called Bon Bon, which many sweet aficionados insist is a cut above the standard gummies fare.

"Since everyone’s obsessed with Swedish candy in New York, let’s go to Bon Bon!" creator Beca Michie said, standing outside the pink awning of Bon Bon Swedish Candy.

Leo Schaltz, a co-founder of Brooklyn-based Bon Bon, said he and his two business partners opened the shop because they found the options in the U.S. gummies space lacking.

"We felt that the American standards of candy didn’t live up to what we grew up with," Schaltz said.

Schaltz and his two co-founders are from Sweden, where they were allowed to indulge only one day a week when they were growing up — on Saturdays.

"The Saturdays were holy, so we tried to relive that," he said. You can get goosebumps talking about it, like when I had the special ones I used to have when I was kid. It’s incredible."

Schaltz and his team set out to recapture that magic and make every day a sweet Saturday. Bon Bon, which opened in 2017, now has four locations that stay open until midnight, as well as a booming website.

Its popularity can lead to queues that wrap around the building.

"Sometimes the lines get too long, and then we kind of have to add reinforcement — a candy bouncer," Schaltz said. "He’s very friendly. He gives out samples. He’s not intimidating. So he’s on brand for Bon Bon."

Schaltz said TikTok might bring people to the store, but the quality of its ingredients keeps them coming back for more.

"Most of our candy is vegan. They’re gluten free," Schaltz said. "At the end of the day, it’s a quality product that comes from Sweden, which sort of adds an air of premiumness to it."