Hershey’s 76-year-old Jolly Rancher brand is experiencing record-breaking growth as it moves beyond its traditional hard candy roots into new formats like gummies and freeze-dried treats. In 2024, Jolly Rancher generated $400 million in sales, marking a 25% increase from the previous year.
Long celebrated for its bold fruit flavors such as watermelon and blue raspberry, the brand has successfully leveraged its flavor profile into new textures and snacking experiences. Hershey began focusing on expanding the brand in 2020 by relaunching Jolly Rancher Gummies with improved shapes, flavors, and packaging.
Recent innovations include Jolly Rancher Ropes, launched in 2024, which combine a chewy outer shell with a soft, fruit-flavored filling in dual-flavor combinations like green apple-watermelon and blue raspberry-cherry. In 2025, the company introduced Jolly Rancher Freeze-Dried, offering a light, airy, and poppable snacking experience.
The transformation has significantly altered the brand’s sales composition. A decade ago, nearly 80% of Jolly Rancher’s sales came from hard candy. Today, that number has dropped to below 50%, despite continued growth in the hard candy segment—up more than $50 million since 2020.
Jolly Rancher has climbed from the 11th to the 5th position in the U.S. non-chocolate sweets category in just three years, according to Hershey data. The brand’s versatility has enabled it to quickly tap into emerging trends and seasonal offerings while maintaining its core identity through flavor consistency.
While exploring new avenues, Hershey is currently focused on scaling up its existing successful formats. Demand for Freeze-Dried Jolly Ranchers continues to outpace supply, and the company sees a “long runway” ahead for the Ropes line.
With consumer demand surging and product innovation resonating strongly, Jolly Rancher’s evolution is proving to be a sweet success for Hershey.