You Can Finally Buy Official Bags of Freeze-Dried SweeTarts, Spree & Lemonheads

Good news! You can stop paying those black market freeze-dried candy sellers for your fix. The candy giant Ferrara just launched three classic candies in their new, official “Freeze Dried” line. I got to try them earlier this year at the fittingly-named Sweets & Snacks Expo, but let’s go over the basics again since they’re finally hitting shelves.

Which three candies are getting freeze-dried?

Ferrara is kicking off their Freeze Dried line with three quiet kings of the theater candy genre: Lemonhead, SweeTart, and Spree. Some might ask, “Is there really a difference between SweeTart and Spree?” and they’d be right to wonder. I searched “What’s the difference between SweeTart and Spree” and Google’s rainforest-burning AI robot said Spree was different because it has…a sweet-tart center. Enlightening. Anyway, I preferred the freeze-dried SweeTarts when I sampled the trio earlier this year.

What’s with the whole freeze-dried candy thing anyway?

As far as I can tell, freeze-dried candy is our modern day version of the “man accidentally invents gum while trying to replace rubber” trope. I don’t know what the first person who dropped a gummy bear into liquid nitrogen was trying to do, but they created an entire ecosystem of flea market stalls and mall candy stores. 

Once they smelled money in the water, it was only a matter of time before the actual candy manufacturers themselves got into the game. Skittles jumped first with their “Skittles Pop’d” line, and now Ferrara is following suit. Place your bets now who’ll be next; I’m thinking it’ll be the Albanese gummy people or Jelly Belly.

When can I get my hands on these new freeze-dried candies for myself?

Per the brand, all three of these candies will hit shelves in September in 4oz bags. That may not sound like a lot, but freeze-drying introduces a lot of air—these are actually good sized bags. Plus, as I said in my review of the Freeze Dried Lemonheads, the sour flavor in that candy gets overpowering after just a few pieces.