Candy Kittens Flavours and Ingredients, and Why They Are Vegan

By Emily Patrikakos, Brand Executive at The Gourmet Pantry.

Candy Kittens are soft chewy fruit sweets set with plant proteins instead of gelatine, which is what makes them vegan. Two flavours are ranged here: Sour Watermelon and Wild Strawberry, both 140g pouches at $10.95 on the Candy Kittens brand page.

The two flavours we range, and what each one tastes like

Sour Watermelon is the tart one. The sweet itself carries 10 per cent watermelon juice from concentrate, and the coating is a mix of malic, citric and lactic acid, which is why the first two seconds are sharp and the rest is fruit. It reads as watermelon rather than as generic red, and the sourness fades rather than sitting on your tongue. This is the pouch that disappears fastest at our packing benches.

Wild Strawberry is the rounder one. It runs 6 per cent strawberry juice from concentrate and, unusually for a sweet in this category, 4 per cent coconut water from concentrate. That coconut water is doing something specific: it softens the acidity and gives the chew a slightly creamy finish, closer to a strawberries and cream sweet than to a jelly baby. If you are buying for someone who finds sour sweets too aggressive, this is the one.

Texture is the same across both. They are a soft chew, not a firm gummy, which means they behave in an Australian December the way soft sweets always do. Keep the pouch out of a hot car and out of direct sun. Our own pack information gives an average shelf life of seven months and says to store them in a cool, dry place, which is worth honouring if you are buying ahead for a stocking or a festive entertaining table.

What is in them, read off our own pack information

These are the ingredient lists we publish on each product page, in full, in order. Nothing here is summarised or tidied up.

Why they contain no gelatine

Most chewy sweets get their bounce from gelatine, which is made from animal collagen. Candy Kittens do not use it. The two proteins in both lists, hydrolysed pea protein and potato protein, are doing that structural job instead, alongside modified starch. That is the whole mechanism, and it is why these sit in our vegan options range rather than beside the standard confectionery.

The colours are worth a second look for the same reason. There is no carmine, which is an insect-derived red used in some sweets, and no beeswax or shellac glaze. Colour comes from fruit and plant concentrates: black carrot, pumpkin and apple in the watermelon pouch, sweet potato and black carrot in the strawberry one, with a little spirulina concentrate in the watermelon sweet to pull the green side of the colour. That is also why the shades are muted rather than fluorescent.

If you are building a whole table around this, our guide to vegan Christmas food covers the savoury half, and the rest of the plant-based range sits under vegan.

Common questions

What are Candy Kittens?

Candy Kittens are soft chewy fruit sweets sold in 140g resealable pouches. They sit somewhere between a jelly sweet and a chew: softer than a wine gum, firmer than a marshmallow, made with real fruit juice from concentrate and set with plant proteins rather than gelatine. The two we range are Sour Watermelon and Wild Strawberry, both made in Germany, both $10.95.

Are Candy Kittens vegan?

Yes. Neither ingredient list contains gelatine, carmine, beeswax, shellac or any other animal-derived ingredient. The chew comes from hydrolysed pea protein, potato protein and modified starch, and the colour comes from fruit and vegetable concentrates. Our supplier describes them as vegan sweets on both product pages, and the published ingredient lists on this page are consistent with that.

Are Candy Kittens gluten free?

We are not able to tell you that, and we would rather say so than guess. The allergen statement we hold for both pouches reads contact us for more details, so there is no allergen declaration for us to quote. What we can tell you is what is printed in the ingredient lists above: neither one names wheat, barley, rye, oats or malt. That is not the same as a gluten free certification, and it says nothing about the factory the sweets are made in. If you are buying for a coeliac, read the current pack or call us on 1300 936 406 before you order. Our gluten free crackerthins and the rest of the gluten free range carry their own labelling.

What is the difference between Candy Kittens and Candy Kittens SHOX?

SHOX is the brand's own sour line and we do not range it. If you searched for it because you want the sour pouch, Sour Watermelon is the sour one in our range: the acid coating is a blend of malic, citric and lactic acid, and it is genuinely tart rather than sweet with a hint of sharpness. Rather than describe a product we do not stock, we would point you at the two pouches we do, on the Candy Kittens page.

Where a pouch of these actually earns its place

Three jobs, in our experience. They go in a stocking, because a 140g pouch is the right size and the right price for it. They go in the glovebox, which is the argument in our Christmas road trip snacks piece. And they go on the table at the point in the afternoon when nobody wants another piece of cheese, which is the same slot the sweets in children's Christmas food fill. Two pouches also round out a build-your-own hamper nicely alongside something from confectionery or snacking.

Both flavours, current stock and pricing sit on the Candy Kittens brand page. Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day from our Corio, VIC warehouse, tracked with Australia Post.