{"id":7639,"date":"2012-12-04T14:08:23","date_gmt":"2012-12-04T19:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/?p=7639"},"modified":"2013-05-31T12:27:01","modified_gmt":"2013-05-31T16:27:01","slug":"sour-patch-kids-new-packaging-plus-a-little-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/?p=7639","title":{"rendered":"Sour Patch Kids’ New Packaging! Plus a little history…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today I’m taking a crack at a big-time favorite among many of my readers – Sour Patch Kids.\u00a0 I’d previously touched upon Sour Patch for my Halloween post on Sour Patch Zombie Kids<\/a> (awesome bit of packaging there).\u00a0 My reason for posting today is that I recently noticed they’d totally changed up the Sour Patch logos and mascots, and that’s a great time for a collector to take notice.\u00a0 So let’s do it.<\/p>\n

Just so you can see what I’m talking about, here’s a comparison shot of the new packaging style, and the one it replaced:<\/p>\n

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Sour Patch Kids 2011 and 2012 packaging comparison.<\/p><\/div>\n

Right now, you can still find the old style of packaging on some store shelves, but soon they will all be replaced by the snappy new versions.\u00a0 And those old packs will fade into candy history. But before I get to the topic of this years’ packaging change, I want to show you as much as I can of their history.<\/p>\n

According to a few sources, the first Sour Patch Kids were sold in 1985. \u00a0 We can guess that the Sour Patch name took inspiration from Cabbage Patch Kids, which were popular at the time.\u00a0 But the candy itself was based on a product that confectioner Frank Galatolie created in the 1970’s called Mars Men.\u00a0 Galatolie’s company, Jaret International were also the first producers of Sour Patch Kids. [Edit: Luke Jaret wrote in to correct a detail here.\u00a0 Frank Galatolie was not an owner of Jaret International, but in fact an employee.\u00a0 Jaret International was owned by Robert Jaret and another partner.]<\/p>\n

Though I don’t have any of those 1980’s packages to show, I do have this early trade ad from 1993.\u00a0 The package style here might be very close to what was used for those first 1980’s Sour Patch packs.<\/p>\n

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Jaret International – Sour Patch Kids – candy trade ad – May 1993<\/p><\/div>\n

For reference, here’s a close-up of the Sour Patch Kids pack from the ad:<\/p>\n

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Jaret International – Sour Patch Kids – candy package from trade ad – 1993<\/p><\/div>\n

Jumping ahead a few years, the Sour Patch Kids logo would become a bit more animated and arched, and the kid would get a ball cap, which he would retain for quite some time.<\/p>\n

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Jaret International – Sour Patch Kids – candy package – 1996 – Source US Trademark Archives<\/p><\/div>\n

From this point in the history of the brand, I hit a bit of a research gap, so I have to guess a bit. \u00a0 At some point in the late 1990’s, the brand\u00a0(or perhaps all of Jaret International) was acquired by Cadbury-Adams.\u00a0 By that time, the pack style that we still had in 2010 was what was being used.<\/p>\n

I want to show all of the changing packs, but first I’d like to show a few key pieces that reveal a little bit about how the current mascot came into play.<\/p>\n

Here’s a Sour Patch Watermelon box from 2010, which shows that, in general, the packaging was still using the fruit mascots they had been. 2010 was also the first year that Kraft Foods was credited as the producers of the brand (after they’d purchased Cadbury):<\/p>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Watermelon – 3.5 oz candy box – 2010<\/p><\/div>\n

But in the previous year, we get an early hint at the Sour Patch Kids candy mascot that would soon dominate all packs.\u00a0 Here is an Easter-themed box from 2009:<\/p>\n

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Cadbury-Adams – Sour Patch Bunnies – Easter candy box – 2009<\/p><\/div>\n

That 2009 box brings the candy-mascot to the forefront, but the style of illustration is not quite what we’d eventually get (his eyes are filled-in, he has an extra line around his body).\u00a0 I first noticed the new and current mascot on Sour Patch’s 2011 video game promotion:<\/p>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Watermelon – Million Dollar Challenge – candy package – 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

The revised mascot must have really worked, because I recall that package catching my eye and attention.\u00a0 Before this, I hadn’t given Sour Patch Kids much thought… and hadn’t picked up any packages for my collection, either.\u00a0 So clearly they were doing something right with this new version (though I am quite fond of the old versions now, too).<\/p>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Kids – Million Dollar Challenge – 3.5 oz candy box – 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

This all brings us up to 2012, when the candy mascot first seen in current form in 2011 now graces all Sour Patch packaging.\u00a0 I’m going to share each flavor in 2011 version along with its 2012 package, so they can be easily contrasted.\u00a0 There are seven standard-size pack flavor variations.<\/p>\n

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Cadbury-Adams – Sour Patch Kids Blue Raspberry pack – 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Blue Raspberry – candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

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Cadbury-Adams – Sour Patch Kids Fruits pack – 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Fruits – candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

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Cadbury-Adams – Sour Patch Kids Peach pack – 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Peach – candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

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Cadbury-Adams – Sour Patch Kids Watermelon pack – 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Watermelon – candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Watermelon appears to be a popular flavor, as it’s one of the only versions also sold in theater sized boxes:<\/p>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Watermelon – 3.5 oz candy box – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

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Cadbury-Adams – Sour Patch Kids Extreme pack – 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Kids Extreme – candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

I also have a larger pack size for the Extreme flavor:<\/p>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Kids Extreme – 6.5 oz candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

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Cadbury-Adams – Sour Patch Kids KIDS pack – 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Kids – candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Last up on the assortment of flavors to be shown is the dedicated cherry-flavored pack.\u00a0 I saved it for last because from what I’ve been able to discern, the cherry flavor was retired along with the old packaging style.\u00a0 It has been replaced by a new flavor called Berries.\u00a0 Here they are:<\/p>\n

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Cadbury-Adams – Sour Patch Kids Cherry pack – 2011<\/p><\/div>\n

Here’s the Berries that now replace Cherry as the seventh flavor pack:<\/p>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Kids Berries – candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Berries is a flavor that is certainly being promoted, and I found one of the larger packs featuring the flavor:<\/p>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Kids Berries – 6.5 oz candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

Another fun variant I found on shelves this week were Sour Patch Kids Xploderz.\u00a0 They’re juice-filled Sour Patch Kids, of course!<\/p>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Xploderz – 6.5 oz candy package – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

There’s also this Christmas-themed box that I just picked up last week up in Syracuse, New York:<\/p>\n

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Kraft Foods – Sour Patch Kids – Christmas box – 3.1 oz candy box – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

My pal Cybele over at CandyBlog does a great write-up of a strange Sour Patch flavor extension that was out in 2009 for a short time.\u00a0 Sour Patch Kids Chillerz, which purported to mix a minty flavor with the fruit and sour.\u00a0 You can check it out here.<\/a><\/p>\n

There have likely been many shapes and short-lived variants put out under the Sour Patch umbrella over the years that I failed to cover here.\u00a0 That just means I’ve got plenty of fun things to hunt for, for years to come.<\/p>\n

One piece that I can happily say is in my collection now is the Canadian version of Sour Patch Kids Zombies, called Maynards Zombie Sour Patch Kids.\u00a0 The Zombie before the name makes all the difference.\u00a0 Thanks to my Canadian pal and fabulously-talented cartoonist Glen Mullaly<\/a>, I finally have one of these neat pieces in my hands.<\/p>\n

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Canada – Maynards – Zombie Sour Patch Kids – Halloween candy box – October 2012<\/p><\/div>\n

And that’s everything I’ve got to share today with regard to Sour Patch.\u00a0 I hope you guys liked my look back on this classic sour favorite!\u00a0 See ya next time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I’m taking a crack at a big-time favorite among many of my readers – Sour Patch Kids.\u00a0 I’d previously touched upon Sour Patch for my Halloween post on Sour Patch Zombie Kids (awesome bit of packaging there).\u00a0 My reason … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,35,514],"tags":[1205,349,488,385,321,316,328,351,332,14,324,78,333,21,191,1224,668,669,670,15,348,11],"class_list":["post-7639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1980s","category-1990s","category-sour-candy","tag-1980s","tag-1980s-candy","tag-1990s-candy","tag-80s-candy","tag-candy-collecting","tag-candy-collection","tag-candy-collector","tag-candy-wrapper-collection","tag-candy-wrapper-collector","tag-collectible","tag-collecting-candy","tag-confectionery","tag-confections","tag-packaging","tag-sour","tag-sour-candy","tag-sour-patch","tag-sour-patch-kids","tag-super-sour","tag-sweets","tag-vintage-candy-wrapper","tag-wrapper"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2aFGk-1Zd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7639"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10768,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7639\/revisions\/10768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}