How it Started 

How it started

Sour Patch® Kids started life as a product called Mars Men - little aliens that were sold as a one cent (US) piece.

The product inspiration and design came at a time when UFO sightings were exciting the Western world. Invading aliens from Mars were molded into the shape of the product and specially coated with a unique sour coating.

The taste started with "an out of this world" tartness, turning gradually into a pleasant fruit flavor. The process creating the sour-coated soft candy was developed in the late 1970s and this "alien" approach was the first candy to be tested with it.

It is believed that the national sales manager of a national distributor came up with the idea of introducing sour products into the soft confectionery category and developed the candy by having Canadian manufacturing colleagues experiment with regular cherry candy products and adding a coating of sour sanding. This new product was named Sour Patch® Kids and was distributed in the US in 1985.

In 2002 Sour Patch® Kids got a new look, new packaging, and new flavor names.