YouTuber Niko Omilana has launched a confectionery brand positioned to appeal to “the next generation of sweet lovers”.
Called Shades, the brand will debut with three vegan and halal-certified variants (rsp: £1.70/150g): Straight Up Strawberry, Tropical Blast and The Originals.
All packs feature gummies in the shape of sunglasses, in a nod to Omilana’s 2021 high-profile campaign to run for London mayor, during which he wore a pair of children’s sunglasses.
The sweets will hit supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide on 21 May, rolling into Sainsbury’s, Co-op, WH Smith Travel and Booker.
Omilana teased the launch in a three-minute video posted across his and Shades’ social media channels on Friday, in which he vowed to take down a bear called ‘Harry Bowe’, who didn’t make sweets suitable for him.
By the time of writing, the video had been watched 969k times on YouTube alone.
The next Candy Kittens?
Shades is the latest project from Tuckshop London, an investment fund which supports creator-fronted fmcg brands.
Tuckshop London was founded by Candy Kittens co-founders Jamie Laing and Ed Williams, along with Katjes managing shareholder Bastian Fassin, in 2021.
Omilana first approached Tuckshop London with the idea for Shades over a year ago, Williams told The Grocer.
“Nico was particularly interested in adding halal to the category because he felt there weren’t enough halal options.
“He said, ‘look, have you got any advice? Could we do it together?’”
According to Williams, Tuckshop London proceeded with caution, wanting to ensure the product range would offer a point of difference to existing brands in the category and target a different shopper to Candy Kittens.
“We didn’t want to rush out there and just slap his name on any old product that we can find on the shelf,” he said.
“We really worked with him collaboratively to come up with the brand and the product and have something that has that extra layer of authenticity that I think is often missing in these launches.
“A lot of people [content creators] are using their YouTube or their social media reach to gain some quick sales. And that’s fine, hats off to them. But my question is, how long can it last?
“With Shades, we’ve worked really, really hard to make sure this is a product you would buy with or without knowing Nico.”
Omilana’s audience was 90% male and predominantly Gen Z, whereas Candy Kittens’ audience was “85%-90% female”, overindexing with millennials.
Speaking about the launch, Omilana said: “There were no sweets that spoke to me and my crew… so I made some.
“I wanted everyone to be able to join me on my mission to be the biggest sweet brand in the world, so we’ve made the best-tasting sweets, and made sure everyone can enjoy them.”
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