BUBS is the modern Swedish candy brand most non-Swedes meet first, usually because the skull-shaped sour bag goes viral every few years on TikTok. Founded in 1992 in Huskvarna by the Lindström family, BUBS still operates independently — no parent conglomerate — which is part of why the recipes haven't been blanded out for international export.
The story
BUBS defined what a lot of people now call 'new Swedish candy': playful, sour, chewy, foam-textured, designed to be mixed flavour-by-flavour rather than colour-by-colour. The skull pieces in particular have become a cult shape — copied across the candy world, but originally a BUBS calling card. The company opened its first Stockholm flagship store in late 2025, signalling a confident move from supermarket pick-and-mix into branded retail.
Signature products
- Sour Skulls (lemon-raspberry, the viral classic)
- Cool Fruity Pear — pastel pear foam skulls
- Cola Skalle — cola-flavoured skull
- Banana Ovals — soft banana-flavoured foam ovals
- Tutti Frutti Diamonds — diamond-shaped fruit chews
- Wild Strawberry / Pomegranate Ovals
- Dizzy Bubblegum Skulls — multi-colour bubblegum foam
Flavour profile and audience
Sweet-sour, foam-textured, fruit-forward, vegan-friendly recipes (verify per SKU). Youth, trend-forward, social-media-native, plus nostalgic Swedes.
Where BUBS fits in the wider candy world
BUBS sits next to Malaco in the modern Swedish lösgodis lineup — Malaco is the everyday default, BUBS is the cult-niche brand. If you've eaten the Matthijs Swedish Skulls bag (Dutch-made, named for Sweden's flag), the foam-skull format owes a debt to BUBS — but BUBS is the original.
Where to start
If you've never tried BUBS: the original Sour Skull bag. If you have: try the Pear Skulls — most underrated piece in the catalogue.
TheSweetsTruck launches May 2026 with BUBS on the shelf — pick-and-mix bags for households and pallet-quantity wholesale for retailers, cafés, and event planners across the US and Canada. Sign up and we'll email you the day the store opens, or talk wholesale if you stock candy for a living.