Frankford Candy Co. has brought back the Wonder Ball, the hollow, milk chocolate treat filled with candy pieces that has become a nostalgic item among young adults.
The Wonder Ball was widely popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. When Frankford acquired the rights to the Wonder Ball from Nestlé in 2004, the company introduced the treat under SpongeBob licensing. However, Nickelodeon and other partners created nutritional guidelines that precluded Wonder Ball from conforming. As a result, it was discontinued in 2007.
Since then, requests and petitions have surfaced to bring back the candy. There were 400,000 social media fans for the brand before the Wonder Ball was even re-launched.
“It’s the surprise appeal. Surprise is a very hot and growing trend,” says Stuart Selarnick, ceo of Frankford Candy Co. “Kids get a combination of both chocolate and non-chocolate candy, but the character and the flavor that is inside the chocolate ball is the surprise.”
Wonder Ball is targeted toward children, but young adults who grew up with the brand in the 1990s are a large part of the market as well.
“We started shipment in March, but demand quickly exceeded supply, and we had to restrict distribution so, to say the least, it’s been a very big success so far and velocity at retail continues to build,” Selarnick says.
Frankford plans on introducing Wonder Ball themes licensed under Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon and Shopkins. Frankford-brand Wonder Balls will also be available.
