Sweets are bond
My father has the kind of insatiable sweet tooth that dentists dream about. This is a man who puts 2 packets of sweetener in his herbal tea nightcap. No chocolate, biscuit or licorice is safe in his airspace.
Dad was born and raised in South Africa, a country firmly in the grasp of the British candy empire. Sweet pantries filled with Cadbury Crunchies, Peppermint Crisp, and fam favorite SA's own Manhattan Senties.
I’ve inherited his predilection, and now passed it on to my daughter. God help her and her enamel. The thing is: sweets are joy. What's more, sweets are shared experience. Some of my fondest memories with loved ones, certainly grandparents, includes a serving of refined sugary goodness.
In ENS terms, sweets are a prime example of a culturally relevant category that gets very little love. There are very few notable sales; the recent purchase of Oreo.eth for .75e was an outlier (and a nice scoop.)
The Candy Business
The global candy market is approximately $250-300 billion, segmented into chocolate, non-chocolate, hard candy, caramels, chewing gum, breathe mints, gummies, licorice, lollipops and on.
Per the National Confectioners Association (NCA), 64% of US candy sales are from 4 major holidays: Valentines, Easter, Halloween, Christmas. It comes as no surprise that the American Holiday Industrial Complex has us in its grasp.
While I focused on classic, mass market names (sweets you’d see in any airport Duty Free) I should note that premium confectionary sector, namely chocolate, is growing fast, as people have more expendable income and are looking for healthier, low-sugar alternatives.
It’ll be interesting to see what young brands capture the market in this next generation
Industry Players
Mondelez (previously Kraft) - Big US conglomerate. Cadbury, Toblerone, Sour Patch Kids, Oreo, and on.
Mars - Privately owned 20+b global brand. M&ms, Snickers, Starburst, Skittles, Altoids, the list goes on.
Hershey - Iconic US company since 1894. Hershey's chocolate/kisses, Reese's, Twizzlers, York Peppermint Patty etc.
Nestlé - Swiss multinational. From Nespresso to microwavables to baby formula. Candy includes Smarties, Kit Kat (global, non US) Nestle chocolate, Peppermint Crisp (South African staple) the Rowntree line of gummies et al
Lindt - Swiss chocolatier, known for its colorful wrapped Lindor balls and iconic gold bunny.
Meiji - Japanese company known for Hello Panda chocolates and gummies.
Ferrero Group -Italian multinational. Nutella, Ferraro Rocher, and they acquired part of Nestle’s US business, Butterfinger, Baby Ruth etc.
Perfetti Van Melle - Italian-Dutch multinational carrying Mentos & Chupa Chups.
Haribo - German company selling gummies of every variety.
Morinaga - Japanese makers of Hi-Chew.
THIS WEEK’S DOMAINS
Owner: Damien92.eth
Registered: 3 months
Sales/Offers: None
This is M and Ms. ENS doesn't allow the ampersand, so this isn't a ‘pure domain.' These Frankenstein'd domains will be interesting in terms of future value. One has to believe if emojis have a place in the system, ampersand (a ‘logogram’) will too.
M&Ms are actually knocks offs of the British Smarties, which I actually favor taste wise. M&Ms started gaining traction in the post-war economic boom. Their first big customer was the US Army. Now there isn’t a grocer in the world you won’t find 8 flavors of M&Ms, from peanut to cream of corn. Making them all the more ubiqitious is their recognizable anthropomorphized spokescandies running about on national commercials.
As far as that long-running joke about celebs wanting only green M&Ms in their dressing room? That's just hazing. M&Ms all taste the same. The coating is just coloring.
FILM TRIVIA: The famous scene where ET is eating Reese's Pieces was actually M&Ms in the script! Mars balked at the product placement, and Reese's sales jumped 65% off the film's success.
My personal favorite? Holiday M&Ms. I used to down handfuls at my cousin's house every Christmas. An intravenous drip of milk chocolate. Peanut M&Ms are a close second (PeanutMandMs.eth is registered for 3 years!) and the rest of the flavors are exotic and fun, but I always come back to the OGs.
RATING: 💽 💽 💽 x x
Owner: ChocolateSundae.eth
Registered: 3 years
Sales/Offers: None
TimTams are delicious, chocolate-covered, chocolate-filled “biscuits “made by Arnott. I'm told the Australian vernacular for biscuits “bikkies.” Crazy statistics: 94% of Australian households purchased TimTams in 2023! They're produced at 60 Timtams/second!
TimTams come in several flavors (dark, white, chewy caramel) and are sold around the world. Like M&Ms, Timtams were influenced by the British, namely Penguin Biscuits. Produced beginning in 1964, founder Ross Arnott named them after the 1958 Kentucky Derby winner Tim Tam.
The TimTam Slam is a popular move where you bite off both ends of the TimTam and use it as a straw to suck down a beverage. Worth the melty mess.
Not long ago there was hubbub over the US imported version of Timtams being expensive and including the word “cookie” on the packaging. This did not sit well with Australian ex-pats. Trader Joes makes a knockoff that aren't bad, but the inner filling is noticeably thin.
BELOW: Pre-Fame Cate Blanchett in a 1994 TimTam's commercial.
RATING: 💽 💽 💽 💽 x
Owner: Cryptodominios.eth
Registered: 2 years (Pre-Punk)
Sales/Offers: None
Found in 1958 and based in Barcelona, over 4 billion Chupa Chups (pronounced Choopa Choops) are sold each year around the world, in over 100 flavors. The company has a huge product line, from backpacks to sparkling beverages to air fresheners.
The Chupa Chups logo was designed in 1969 by, wait for it, by Salvador Dali!
Well known for their strategic (and often free) celebrity endorsement. The company has had a knack for getting the pops in celebrities hands like Madonna, Elton John, and Magic Johnson and letting the subliminal messaging do the work.
RATING: 💽 💽 💽 💽 x
HiChew.eth (ハイチュウ.eth | hi-chew.eth)
Owner: No primary ENS name.
Owner of ハイチュウ.eth: Detectivepikachu.eth
Owner of Hi-Chew.eth:
Sales/Offers: None
Japanese candy Hi-Chew is now one of the bigger chewy candies in the world, having seen massive growth in the last few decades from 10s of millions of sales to 100 million.
Two factors contributed to Hi-Chew's growth in the US 1) Strong sales in Salt Lake City, where Mormon missionaries who'd lived in Japan were fans of the candy, and 2)An influx of Japanese players into major league baseball in the early 2000s. The candy infiltrated clubhouses and caught fire. Hi-chew has long had baseball spokesmen.
As far as the domain, the actual product name is hyphenated. I'm biased against hyphenated ENS names; I believe in future most companies will choose non-hyphenated for ease of use. BUT it's worth noting Hi-Chew's current URL is Hi-chew.com.
RATING: 💽 💽 💽 x x
Owner: whiterabbit.eth (primary!)
Registered: 5 years
Sales/Offers: None
Created in 1959 by a Chinese merchant, these milk candies with rice paper wrapper were also inspired by the English.
Popularity for White Rabbit peaked in the '80s and '90s before China allowed competing products in the country. Sold globally, they have a particularly strong brand recognition in Chinatown's around the world. In China, they account for 5% of all candy sales, a big number.
White Rabbit is a very nostalgic candy; my best friend growing up his family from Hong Kong, he exposed me to these and even Im nostalgic just looking at the
RATING: 💽 💽 💽 💽 x
HONORABLE MENTION
Chocolate.eth - Highest historical offer is .5e?! Way undervalued.
Licorice.eth - .02 offer
Skittles.eth - 10 yer reg
Godiva.eth - 9 yr reg
Hersheys.eth - 4.44e listing, 18 year reg!
Nestlé.eth - 3 year reg, never had an offer
Haribo.eth- 4 mth reg, Never had an offer
Twizzlers.eth - 17 year reg! Pre-punk
SwedishFish.eth - 3 year reg
Redvine.eth - Grace
Kitkat.eth - 3 mth reg
Available Domains!
Snickers.eth - In Premium! ($2440 at time of post)
Toblerone.eth - In Premium ($1395 at time of post)
Reesespeanutbuttercup(s).eth
Gummiworms.eth
大白兔奶糖.eth - Chinese for White Rabbit
LicoriceAllSorts.eth
Until next week, sweet responsibly friends
~ Careless Whisper