New sweets in 2025: How super sour candy and freeze-dried snacks become a multisensory experience

Who says sweets always have to be sweet? With its innovation, Yummy Super Sour, the Dutch company Primus Wafer Paper is proving that precisely extremely sour sweets can provide that decisive kick. The product won a New Product Showcase Award at ISM 2025 and is part of a new generation of sweets that offer a true experience. Before the edible paper roll made of potato starch melts on the tongue, it provides a sensory explosion: tingling, surprising and ultra-sour. The company already implemented edible paper in a playful way for former products like its Yummy Money or Yummy Doodles. Yummy Super Sour is now providing the ultimate "sour face" effect.

"We are always on the look-out for products with a surprising effect – not only in terms of taste, but also regarding their format," said Wouter Smits, Chief Operating Officer of Primus Wafer Paper. Yummy Super Sour is the perfect example: Surprisingly sour, sustainably produced and a true conversation starter on social media.

What makes super sour candy so special:

• 100% vegan, gluten and allergen-free
• Made from potato starch instead of gelatine or sugar pastes
• Without artificial additives
• Perfect for sharing and for social media challenges

Why do we remember some snacks vividly, even though their taste is perhaps not that exceptional? The answer lies in multisensory perception: Products that activate several senses simultaneously, generate a stronger and longer-term experience in the brain. That means: The more senses are involved - i.e. taste, smell, texture, sound and visual appearance, the higher the emotional impact.

When consuming a snack several processes take place parallel in the brain.

• The sense of smell controls up to 80 percent of the taste perception: A fruity scent can significantly intensify the taste experience.
• The sense of sight provides initial expectations in the product: Is it colourful, shiny, powdery, transparent?
• The sense of touch registers textures such as crunchy, soft or powdery.
• The sense of hearing reacts to noises, for example the "crack" when biting into a freeze-dried snack or the "fizz" on the tongue in the case of sour paper.
• The sense of taste processes sweet, sour or umami.

The interplay between all these sensory impressions forms an holistic experience that sticks in one's mind. That is precisely why we remember the first time a snack crackled on our tongue. For brands this means: Anyone, who wants to be successful, should not only think about taste when creating snack items, but also about the overall sensory concept. ISM 2025 demonstrated this impressively. Snacking is becoming an holistic and memorable experience!

Incidentally: The Lab5 exhibition area is also the perfect meeting point at ISM 2026 for everyone, who would like to experience the latest sweets trends and engage in an exchange and network with the industry's creative minds.

Products you can touch, react to and share – that is what makes ISM formats like the Expert Stage or Creator Day so special. Here innovative products meet real reactions: Content creators and trade fair participants sample products live, let themselves be surprised and share their impressions directly with the community.

The benefit: Unfiltered reactions to sensory products appear authentic and generate much higher engagement rates on the social media than classic product presentations. Particularly snacks with unusual texture or taste effects – such as ultra-sour sweets or extremely crunchy freeze-dried pieces – are ideal for formats that combine experience and entertainment.

Examples of best practice from the trade fair scene.

• Live podcasts with tastings: Expert teams talk about trends, while testing the latest products including direct taste reactions.
• TikTok challenges like "Sour Face" or "Crunch ASMR": These formats go viral because they show emotional and physical reactions – perfect for Super Sour Candy Paper and co.
• DIY tasting videos in blogs or on Instagram: Whether interactive snack boxes or joint tastings via livestream – the audience is actively involved and experiences the products up close.

In brief: Multisensory effects meet storytelling and become a content experience with viral power that extends far beyond the exhibition halls.

Whether ultra-sour edible paper or freeze-dried crunch bites: At ISM 2025 new sweets that taste, crunch or tickle and thus have surprising effects and arouse emotions, caused a stir. For the manufacturing companies this means: Companies developing sweets today shouldn't just concentrate on the taste, they should also think about multisensory aspects and the entire sensual experience – from the texture and sound, through to the packaging. And for everyone, who wants to know what is going to tingle or crunch next, ISM 2026 from 1 to 4 February 2026 is a must-attend event. Because it will demonstrate once again: The sweetest ideas arise, when all the senses are involved.