Date brand Joolies isn’t just focused on creating another better-for-you alternative to candy, it’s carving out a new lane in the date and confectionery segments, backed by retail momentum.
The brand’s recent partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market landed it permanently on shelf after a three-month trial with the retailer’s Forager Table program.
Joolies credits its growth to a “consumer base that is genuinely vocal and loyal,” according to the brand’s Head of Marketing Amanda Sains.
The brand recently launched its Date Sours as a better-for-you alternative to candy option, which Sains says brings in new shoppers into the produce aisle.
Date Sours deliver the “sweet-tart experience consumers crave” while preserving “the natural sweetness and tender bite of a real date,” Sains said.
With flavors like Watermelon, Cherry Cola, Peachy and Blue Raspberry, Joolies lowers the entry point for non-date audiences who can easily recognize the nostalgic flavor profiles.
“We went straight for the ones that live in people’s muscle memory,” Sains said. “You don’t have to explain those flavors to anyone.”
Turning dates into candy alternative – without changing the fruit
At the heart of the launch is a simple understanding that dates’ sweetness is similar to candy and serves as a canvas for other flavors, Sains emphasizes.
“We’ve spent years watching people discover that a date is nothing like what you’d expect,” she said. “It’s soft, chewy and really naturally sweet. At some point we just looked at each other and said, this is already gummy. Once that clicked, the sour coating was obvious.”
Dates’ natural texture and properties provided a more seamless clean label formulation process that can be difficult for broader better-for-you confectionery products. Rather than relying on sugar substitutes or additives, the brand leaned fully into the fruit itself, Sains explained.
“The breakthrough was deciding early that sugar alcohols were off the table completely, no exceptions,” Sains said. “What we found was that the date didn’t need help. The fiber, the density, the natural moisture, all of it was already doing everything a synthetic binder or sweetener is supposed to do.”
Cracking the sour-sweet balance
Although the concept for sweet and sour dates was straightforward, balancing the sour flavors while dates’ intense caramel sweetness posed a technical challenge, Sains explained.
“Dates have this deep caramel sweetness that will absolutely take over if you let it,” she said. “The challenge was getting a sour finish that hits you first, that real pucker moment, and then lets the date do its thing on the back end.”
After multiple iterations, the team landed on a profile where “that contrast between the sour hit and the natural fruit sweetness underneath is exactly what makes it work,” she said.
Rethinking ‘better-for-you’ candy
Joolies’ approach to better-for-you confectionery alternatives also reflects a broader critique of the category where less of a particular ingredient doesn’t necessarily mean a standout experience.
“Most of it is still just subtraction. Less sugar, fewer calories, no artificial dyes. … Okay, great, but that’s not a product,” Sains said. “The gap we notice is a candy that actually adds something instead of just taking it away.”
For Joolies, filling that gap means leaning on dates’ natural nutritional profile as “a base ingredient with genuine nutritional credibility that doesn’t taste like it’s trying to be good for you,” without needing to reformulate or include additives, Sains noted.
“People have been let down so many times by products that promised a real candy experience and delivered something sad and chalky,” she said.
Building a healthy candy alternative brand in a crowded space
As competition grows in better-for-you candy, Joolies’ strategy prioritizes experience over claims.
“Lead with the experience, not the health claim,” Sains argues. “If your consumer has to read your nutrition panel to get excited about your product, you’re fighting uphill from the start.”
Rather, Joolies sees branding, flavor and emotional appeal as the main trial drivers, with health credentials reinforcing – not leading – purchase decisions.
To stand out on increasingly crowded shelves, Sains advises for brands in the category to “know your base ingredient better than anyone else in the room, and make sure it can carry the product without help. And don’t be boring.”
