Nerds is an American
candy
Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...
launched in 1983
by the
Sunmark Corporation under the brand name
Willy Wonka Candy Company. Nerds are now made by the
Ferrara Candy Company
The Ferrara Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer, based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, and owned by the Ferrero SpA, Ferrero Group.
The company was formed from a 2012 merger of the Illinois-based Ferrara Pan Candy ...
, a subsidiary of
Ferrero Group. but is still distributed internationally by
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
. With their
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
covers, Nerds usually contain two flavors per box, each flavor having a separate compartment and opening.
Nerds were first introduced in 1983 and rolled out nationally in 1985. It was developed by a team led by marketing manager Angelo Fraggos at Sunmark's Willy Wonka Candy division and targeted at tweens with allowance money. The dual-chamber design of its box was driven by research that showed boys preferred pouring the candy into their mouths, while girls tended to put it in their hands.
After initial success in the 1980s, Nerds settled into a middling market status for decades until the introduction of
Nerds Gummy Clusters in 2020. In 2021, Nerds Gummy Clusters received free advertising from Kylie Jenner to her 200 million Instagram followers, after which the candy went viral on social media.
A 2024 Super Bowl commercial for Nerds Gummy Clusters featured TikToker Addison Rae,
and was followed by a 2024 Super Bowl commercial with
Shaboozey
Collins Obinna Chibueze (born May 9, 1995), known professionally as Shaboozey, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Shaboozey's music combines hip-hop, country, and Americana. His stage name originated from the mispron ...
. Annual brand revenue increased from about $40 million in 2018 to more than $500 million in 2024, with Nerds Gummy Clusters accounting for more than 90% of the total.
Production process
The television show ''
Unwrapped'' explains how Nerds are made. A factory worker states, "Basically we start off with a sugar crystal and we just keep coating it with more sugar."
[Tuckner, Jake T]
"Nerds Ropes-Food Network."
YouTube. Unwrapped, 2 Apr. 2013. Web. The factory spins huge barrel-like containers of sugar crystals, which receive coats of sugar until the Nerds are formed. Their original color is pure white; they receive their colors in separate barrels. The contents of the barrels are then transferred to boxes, which are divided into two compartments by a vertical partition so each half of the box contains a different flavor. Certain flavor combinations are frequently packaged together, such as grape and strawberry, the most popular pairing in the United States.
[
The nucleus of each candy is composed of one or more complete ]sucrose
Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula .
For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...
crystal
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...
s. These optically clear monoclinic
In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three Vector (geometric), vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in t ...
crystals are about 0.2–1 mm in length and help define the irregular shape. They are thickly glazed with carnauba wax
Carnauba (; ), also called Brazil wax and palm wax, is a wax of the leaves of the carnauba palm '' Copernicia prunifera'' (synonym: ''Copernicia cerifera''), a plant native to and grown only in the northeastern Brazilian states of Ceará, Piau ...
, which gives them a hard bite and a gloss.
Nerds Gummy Clusters are made by pouring melted gel into molds to form the core. In a massive stainless steel bowl, dots of sugar are spun until "baby Nerds" are created. The gummy balls are then sent tumbling to be coated with baby Nerds.
Nutritional facts
Nerds may contain traces of gluten. The article "Nerds Candy Nutrition" states, "Nerds primarily consist of sugar. The top three ingredients are dextrose
Glucose is a sugar with the molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water an ...
, sugar and malic acid
Malic acid is an organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a dicarboxylic acid that is made by all living organisms, contributes to the sour taste of fruits, and is used as a food additive. Malic acid has two stereoisomeric forms ( ...
. The rest of the candy contains less than 2 percent of corn syrup, artificial flavors, carnauba wax and artificial coloring. The artificial coloring varies by flavor." The allergy warnings of this candy state that Nerds are created "in a facility that also produces wheat and egg."[ The normal serving size is one tablespoon—about 15 grams. (One serving of Nerds is equivalent to 60 calories, mostly from carbohydrates, with little fat or protein.) The Halloween hand-out size is typically , and the larger boxes contain .][
]
Early competition
Nerds were a popular candy in the 1980s, but they had big competitors that included Pop Rocks
Pop Rocks, also known as popping candy, is a type of candy owned by Zeta Espacial S.A. Pop Rocks ingredients include sugar, lactose (milk sugar), and flavoring. It differs from typical hard candy in that pressurized carbon dioxide gas bubbles ...
, Candy Buttons
Candy Buttons, Candy Dots, or Pox are small rounded flat pegs of candy that are attached to a strip of paper. This classic sugar candy was originally introduced by the Cumberland Valley company and J Sudak and Son of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 197 ...
, and Mike and Ike
Mike and Ike is an American brand of fruit-flavored candies that were first introduced in 1940 by American company Just Born. Despite conjecture, the origin of the candy's name remains unknown.
History
Mike and Ike is located in Bethlehem, ...
. Nerds also had a close cousin in the 1990s: Dweebs. Dweebs were very similar to Nerds; but they were less sour and bigger in size. One of the most popular differences is that Dweebs contained three flavors instead of two, though the United Kingdom had a box of Nerds with three flavors for a limited time. According to Rob Bricken, "A squishier Nerd with more leg space and a surprise in the middle, Dweebs were more substantial, less sour, and displayed a greater depth and complexity than Nerds." Dweebs only lasted a very short time on the market, however.
Varieties and flavors
Nerds consist of various flavors and colors, ranging from extremely sweet to extremely sour; often, the two flavors in one box will contrast, and a single flavor may even exhibit both extremes. A Nerds breakfast cereal based on the concept appeared in the 1980s with two varieties (Orange and Cherry / Grape and Strawberry), but it had a short lifespan.
Although many other flavors are available, some of the current regular flavors of Nerds include the following:
*Strawberry and Grape (pink and purple)
*Wild Cherry and Watermelon (orange or red and green)
*Double Dipped Lemonade-Wild Cherry and Apple-Watermelon (red and yellow)
*Sour - Lightning Lemon and Amped Apple (yellow and light green)
*Surf 'n Turf - Totally Tropical Punch and Road Rash Raspberry (red and blue)
*Wildberry and Peach (blue and orange)
*Watermelon and Punch and Wildberry (green and blue)
*Mango Chile and Guava (yellow and pink)
*Lime and Pineapple (green and yellow)
Previous flavors
* Orange and Cherry (Orange and Red)
* Watermelon and Punch and Grape and Punch (Green and White and Purple and White)
* Watermelon and Rainbow (Green and Mixed Colors)
Spin-off products
Willy Wonka has also come up with several spin-off products of Nerds:
* Sour Nerds are big and they usually come in Lightning Lemon and Amped Apple. They are packaged in a regular box. A second flavor—Shocking Strawberry and Electric Blue—was also released.
* Strawberry Giant Chewy Nerds, also known as "Future Nerds", have a chewy jelly bean center with a bumpy, crunchy Nerd shell. They are the same product as Nerd Jelly Beans, but they are available year-round.
* Nerds Rope consists of gummy string with a variety of Nerds attached to the outside. It comes in original, valentine's, berry, and tropical flavors.
* Rainbow Nerds is a box of regular Nerds with multiple flavors, with no partition or organization.
* Jumbo Nerds is a box of Nerds with multiple flavors—much larger than regular Nerds. The box depicts one jumbo Nerd on one end of a see-saw with several regular-sized Nerds trying to counter its weight.
* Nerds Gum Balls are bubble gum balls filled with multiple flavors of Nerds on the inside.
* Seasonal Nerds are sometimes manufactured for holidays. Flavors may include:
**Spooky Nerds, a Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
variety featuring fruit punch (white) and orange flavors.
**Frosty Nerds, a Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
variety featuring watermelon (green), cherry (red) and fruit punch (white) flavors.
**Valentine Nerds, a Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...
variety in a miniature box featuring mixed strawberry (pink) and fruit punch (white) flavors.
**Hoppin' Nerds, an Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
variety featuring pink rainbow and blue rainbow flavors.
* Nerds Cereal, a now-discontinued breakfast cereal that, like the candy, featured two separate flavors in a box (Orange and Cherry/Grape and Strawberry). The cereal came with a mail-in offer for a Nerds cereal
A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...
bowl
A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve ...
, which also could be divided in two, like a standard Nerds box.
* Nerds Gum consisted of pieces that looked like regular Nerds, but were actually bubble gum
Bubble gum (or bubblegum) is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble.
Composition
In modern chewing gum, if natural rubber such as chicle is used, it must pass several purity and cleanliness tests. However, ...
. The box featured a Nerd floating away with a bubble gum bubble coming out of its mouth.
* Dweebs, now discontinued, were a soft, chewy version of Nerds. Released in the early 1990s, Dweebs contained three separate flavors rather than two. Dweebs were available only for a very short time, however.
*Neon Nerds were introduced in 1996 and came in Pinktricity, LightningLime, and Electro Orange flavors. They are still sold in Australia and New Zealand. The LightningLime flavor was only sold in the UK, according to candy expert Jason Liebig.
*Nerd Jelly Beans, produced for Easter, are jelly beans with a coating of carnauba wax, which makes them taste like Nerds.
*Wonkalate, a UK-only raspberry-flavored white chocolate bar that was colored purple, which contained green-colored Nerds marketed as being "snozzberry-flavored" (but were actually mixed fruit-flavored).
**W-egg, a UK-only Creme Egg-like confection resembling a larger, more squat version of a Munchie, made of the same chocolate used in the Wonkalate and also containing "snozzberry" Nerds. It also had a hot-pink colored fondant center. It was available during Easter in 2000.
*Nerd Blizzard, a Nerd milkshake offered from Dairy Queen
International Dairy Queen, Inc. (DQ) is an American multinational fast food chain founded in 1940 and currently headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. The first Dairy Queen was owned and operated by Sherb Noble and first opened on June 22, ...
. Now discontinued, Nerds and soft serve ice cream were not a popular pairing (this combination can still be found at DQs throughout Minnesota, however).
*Candy Nerds Slushes, a variety of the Candy Slushes offered by Sonic
Sonic or Sonics may refer to:
Companies
*Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in, fast-food restaurant chain
* Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities
* Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...
that feature Nerds.
* Nerds Gummy Clusters, bite-sized gummy balls coated in Nerds.
*Nerdalicious, a product similar to licorice with Nerds inside it, sold exclusively in the United Kingdom.
Throughout the 1980s, several new flavors of Nerds were introduced from time to time; for example, "Hot and Cool" Nerds (cinnamon and wintergreen flavored), blueberry and raspberry, banana, lemon and lime, and Cherry Cola.
Reception
In 1985, Nerds were named "Candy of the Year" by the National Candy Wholesalers Association.
In 2025, Nerds spinoff, NERDS Gummy Clusters, won the Product of the Year Canada award.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nerds (Candy)
Products introduced in 1983
Nestlé brands
Candy
American confectionery
Ferrara Candy Company brands
The Willy Wonka Candy Company brands
Brand name confectionery