Sour Strips grew on free candy, then store shelves.
A YouTuber’s sour candy sold out on launch day, sent free bags to thousands of creators without paying one, and moved 80% of sales into stores before Hershey bought it.
Before BLOOM10X, our team worked with Sour Strips. This breakdown uses public sources only, linked below.
- Sep 2019Launches online; 20,000 units sell out in an hour
- Year oneMore than 1 million bags sold
- Oct 2020Target, then Walmart, email the founder
- Nov 2023$18M+ in sales so far that year, 80% in stores
- 2024$34M peak year; Hershey buys the brand in November
- Sep 2026Fourth GHOST Energy collab hits stores on Sept 9
What the free-candy engine cost.
Five plays behind the growth.
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Launch to an audience you built for years
Maxx Chewning had built a following for seven years before he launched in 2019 (Hershey, May 2026). He teased a secret project, set the date for his 30th birthday, and launched 20,000 units that sold out in an hour (The 505 Podcast, Aug 2025).
Copy this: tease a launch to your email and SMS list for weeks, name the date, and make the first batch small enough to sell out.
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Send free candy, never pay for posts
Chewning says Sour Strips never paid an influencer. He messaged 10 to 20 creators a day with a free box and no ask, and repeat creators got a monthly box for one story mention (The 505 Podcast). In 2023 he said product went to “thousands and thousands” of creators (UpFlip, Nov 2023).
Copy this: send product to 10 small creators a day with no brief, then offer a monthly box to the ones who post twice.
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Make the bag worth filming
The bag has a viewing window and a reseal, and angry fruit characters aimed at adults as well as kids (Hershey). The 250 launch boxes each held a $25 movie gift card and a note to sneak the candy into a film (The 505 Podcast).
Copy this: put one surprise in the box that gives the creator a scene to film, not just a product to hold.
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Let retail come to you
Chewning had no sales team. Target emailed in October 2020 and Walmart an hour later, and Target’s first rollout reached 1,700 stores by his count (The 505 Podcast). By November 2023, 80% of sales came from stores (UpFlip).
Copy this: before you say yes to a chain, price the opening order, slotting fees and 30 to 90 day payment terms against your cash.
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Turn the birthday into a drop date
Sour Strips launched on Sept 9, 2019, and Cotton Candy took 13,000 orders on the brand’s first birthday. GHOST Energy’s yearly Sour Strips can landed on Sept 9 in 2025 and 2026. The 2026 Appleberry can opened on GHOST’s app on Aug 12 and hit stores Sept 9 (PricePlow, Aug 2026).
Copy this: pick one date a year for your biggest release and let past buyers in a day early.
From $20M+ to $34M in a year.
Sales and where they happened
The free-candy loop
“I’m trying to smother the world in my brand, not trying to immediately convert.”
How the 2019 launch box was built.
- 1A list, not an agencyChewning reached out to about 250 creators himself before launch.
- 2A card that named the secretThe card revealed what the teased project was, so opening the box was the reveal.
- 3A reason to postThe gift card said to sneak the candy into a movie. He bet a $25 gift would get filmed.
- 4Social proof on day oneTheir unboxing clips became one compilation video for his launch announcement.
Our wireframe, built from Chewning’s description on The 505 Podcast, Aug 21, 2025. Not a copy of any one video.
Three launches, one date.
20,000 units, gone in an hour
Teased for months as a secret project, launched on the founder’s 30th birthday to his own audience and 250 seeded creators.
The 505 Podcast, Aug 2025 · Hershey, May 2026
13,000 orders in a day
A new flavor launched online on the brand’s one-year birthday. Chewning says it beat every launch before it.
The 505 Podcast, Aug 2025
Limited-edition Appleberry energy drink
GHOST has run a Sour Strips can every year since 2023. The 2026 flavor opened in GHOST’s app on Aug 12 for 24 hours, then went to stores nationally on Sept 9.
PricePlow, Aug 7, 2026
Where the brand lives now.
- 1Free shipping from $60The line is Hershey’s, shared with every brand in the store.
- 2A collection, not a sitesourstrips.com now redirects to a Hersheyland brand page; checkout runs on Hershey’s store.
- 318 productsTwelve 3.4 oz flavors, Bites bags and a 10.2 oz party bag.
- 4$3.99 a bagWith “3 for $10” on peg bags and “2 for $10” on Bites.
Three of its most-played videos.
Play counts from the official @sourstrips account, Nov 10, 2026: 222,602 followers, 3.0M likes, 694 videos. Its latest regular post is dated Apr 30, 2026.
What seeding like Sour Strips costs you.
Sour Strips put $25K–$50K a month into free product in 2023.
Read it with three caveats.
- The audience came first. Chewning launched to seven years of followers. A brand with no audience needs paid reach to start the loop.
- Candy is cheap to give away. A bag lists at $3.99. Sending 10 boxes a day of a $150 product is a different budget.
- Stores eat cash. Opening orders, slotting fees and 30 to 90 day terms once left “the last couple pennies in the account,” he told UpFlip.
- What we’d change: Chewning said he didn’t track seeding returns. A post-purchase “where did you hear about us?” question would show which creators drive sales.
“My number one tip is to not ask for anything in return.”
Six moves for a $1M–$10M brand.
- Send product to 10 small creators a day with no brief. Creator seeding
- Run the posts that land as partnership ads. Partnership ads guide
- Tease launches to your list and pick a yearly drop date. Retention
- Check what a free box costs against your margin. Margin calculator
- Keep paid ads on new customers and measure their cost. CAC calculator
- Brief creative around reactions, not product claims. Creative
Where every number comes from.
- Susanne Prucha, “How Sour Strips Went from Startup to Standout: A Q&A with Maxx Chewning,” The Hershey Company, May 26, 2026. thehersheycompany.com
- “Making $65K/Day From a Simple Idea… HOW?!” (interview with Maxx Chewning), UpFlip, YouTube, Nov 14, 2023. youtube.com
- “How to Create Products People Beg to Buy ft. Maxx Chewning,” The 505 Podcast, YouTube, Aug 21, 2025. youtube.com
- Christopher Doering, “Hershey buys candy brand Sour Strips for undisclosed amount,” Food Dive, Nov 8, 2024. fooddive.com
- Hannah Hammond, “Hershey Acquires Sour Candy Brand Sour Strips,” CSP Daily News, Nov 8, 2024. cspdailynews.com
- “Sour Strips® and Ghost Energy Re-Unite in Limited-Edition Appleberry,” PricePlow, Aug 7, 2026. blog.priceplow.com
- Sour Strips brand page, Hersheyland (sourstrips.com redirects here), viewed Nov 10, 2026. hersheyland.com
- Sour Strips collection, Shop Hershey, prices viewed Nov 10, 2026. shop.hersheys.com
- GHOST Energy x Sour Strips Rainbow product page, viewed Nov 10, 2026. drinkghost.com
- Sour Strips official TikTok (@sourstrips), followers and play counts viewed Nov 10, 2026. tiktok.com/@sourstrips
