Nerds!

According to Laurnie Wilson, "Some say that [Nerds were] named after a reference in the Dr. Seuss Book, If I Ran the Zoo, where a 'nerd' is mentioned as one of the creatures the narrator would collect for his zoo." Nerds are crunchy, sour, sweet and bright! Kids love this box full of treats because of the bright colors and delicious flavors. They were launched in 1983 by Angelo Farggos of the Nestle candy company and by 1985 they were voted "Candy of the Year" by the National Candy Wholesalers Association.
Nerds were very popular in the 1980s but had big competitors like Pop Rocks, Candy Buttons, and Mike and Ike's. They were generally, and still are today, sold in one box with two separate chambers to hold two different flavors of nerds. In the UK they once sold Nerds in a box with three separate chambers with a strawberry cola flavor that the United States never got to distribute. Nerds is a unique candy in its shape, size, and flavor but had a close cousin called Dweebs. Dweebs were slightly larger then an average Nerd, less sour, and were sold in three different flavors in one box; Dweebs only lasted a short time on the market. Nerds also tried to take off in the cereal market by creating a Nerd Cereal that came packaged just like the candy. Two separate cereal flavors in one box and it even came with a mail-in coupon to receive a nerds cereal bowl that you could separate your cereal into! Unfortunately, this cereal did not last long and is now discontinued.

This iconic candy comes in many flavors and forms! The most popular are the nerd boxes with these current flavors:

• Strawberry and Grape (Pink and Purple)
• Wild Cherry and Watermelon (orange or red and green)
• Double Dipped Lemonade-Wild Cherry and Apple-Watermelon (red and yellow)
• Sour-Lightning Lemon and Amped Apple (yellow and light green) 
• Surf n' Turf- Totally Tropical Punch and Road Rash Raspberry (red and blue) 
• Wildberry and Peach (blue and orange) 
• Wildberry and Punch and Watermelon (Green and Blue) 

Nerds has also morphed into different and just as unique products such as:

• Sour Nerds
• Nerds Rope- The factory makes about 60 miles of Nerd Ropes each day! 
• Rainbow Nerds
• Jumbo Nerds
• Nerds Gum ball 
• Theme Nerds
• Nerds Cereal 
• Techno-nerds
• Nerd Gum 
• Dweebs 
• Neon nerds- now only sold in Australia and New Zealand 
• Nerd Jelly Beans
• Wonkalate- A UK only chocolate bar that is purple in color and contains snozzberry flavored Nerds. 

See how Nerd Ropes are made! 

Wilson, Laurnie. "Candy Favorites – Wholesale Candy & Bulk Candy Suppliers Since 1927." A Nerd-tastic History. Candy Favorites, 1, Feb.2015.

SugarPop's Candy and Soda 
248 N. Main Street
Historic Downtown
Mooresville, Nc
28117
704-799-0959