As part of our ongoing Snack Store video and editorial collection, Content material Intern Annie Arriaga investigates the most recent and best viral snack retailers in New York Metropolis to see if the hype is actual, if the snacks are yummy, and if the spot is underrated, overrated, or completely rated.

In New York Metropolis, Swedish sweet retailer BonBon has taken the town—and its many, many chronically on-line residents—by storm. Sweet and all issues sugary are all the craze onTikTok, from #watertok to #candysalad, bitter Nerds Gummy Clusters to a $5-a-piece Swedish imported morsel, consuming candy treats (and filming your self doing it) are undoubtedly in fashion.

The Swedish sweet retailer opened its first location within the Decrease East Aspect again in 2018, based by Swedish immigrants who needed to deliver all of the candy, bitter, and salty confections of their dwelling nation to New York Metropolis. It was all good and regular till the spring of 2024 when traces started to type exterior the pink sweet retailer within the late hours of the night time (the shop is open till midnight) and so did the hype. Individuals started filming and posting movies of their BonBon experiences and changing into Swedish sweet consultants. Aside from their brick-and-mortar areas, additionally they ship their sweet all around the U.S.—excellent news for all those that need to publish a BonBon sweet haul however aren’t close to the Large Apple.

The #BonBon tag has over 240,000 posts and the #swedishcandy tag has over 15,000 posts on TikTok. Some #tastetest fashion movies, the place creators movie themselves tasting and reviewing BonBon’s scrumptious treats, garner as much as 7.8 million views. These numbers translate into real-time enterprise for BonBon, whose retailer usually runs out of finest promoting objects on weekends. I’ve a candy tooth and I like all issues sugar— however I used to be hesitant to make the journey to BonBon in worry of ready in line for longer than half-hour throughout a warmth wave. Apart from their areas within the Decrease East Aspect, Williamsburg, and the Higher East Aspect, the confectionery model opened up their Pink Hook warehouse area to the general public in March.

Interested in their latest location, I journeyed to Pink Hook to fulfill my candy tooth and examine the sugar-rushed hype.

The BonBon warehouse screams sweet oasis as you stroll up the economic road: swooping, cursive letters line the highest of the warehouse, and their massive shuttered door is painted a child pink, plastered with certainly one of their catchy slogans: “Rising Up Is A Lure.” As I approached, toddler ladies in pigtails and light-up sneakers holding their dad and mom’ arms squealed in pleasure alongside teams of mid20s yuppie males in khakis and polos as they eagerly ran as much as the carts of sweet. It appears that evidently the BonBon phenomenon transcends generations.

Viral or not, the place is magical (even throughout a warmth wave). The inside is adorned within the cheery brand, posters of Swedish fish swimming, and the massive carts of candies that are available all shapes, sizes, and colours. Primarily based on my TikTok analysis, I knew that I used to be searching for bitter skulls, black licorice, and marshmallows— I acquired to scooping.
Black licorice is a supply of rivalry between many American sweet lovers and Swedish sweet aficionados. It’s a basic Scandinavian deal with made utilizing sugar, starch, wheat flour, dried licorice root extract, and salmiak powder (which is what makes it salty), in accordance with Vice. Sure, you learn that proper, it’s salty sweet. As I scooped black licorice into my private pink dishevelled, I contemplated the potential for shopping for a water bottle close by in case I discovered it revolting.

Should you’ve seen the TikToks, you’ve additionally seen the worth tags: some individuals pay upwards of $30 for a visit to BonBon. They cost you by weight, and fortuitously, since I acquired round 10 items of sweet, my complete was just below $10. I took a seat at their out of doors benches and acquired to sampling.

I acquired my arms on the pink and blue fizzy sugar cranium (which I’ve seen featured in lots of, many movies), which struck a great steadiness of chewy, bitter, and candy. This wasn’t my private fav however it’s good to chomp on a sweet that’s completely chewy and would not style like plastic and red40.

It will get tough after we begin speaking in regards to the marshmallows. Their basic vanilla marshmallow was pleasant, fluffy and full of refined taste, as a marshmallow ought to be. Their banana marshmallow, which is each formed and coloured just like the yellow fruit, tasted like the standard banana extract Laffy Taffy slap-in-your-face taste however the texture was, nicely, fully totally different than I anticipated: Chewier, stretchier, and softer (in a nasty means).

Regardless of my skepticism, each the BonBon store itself and the sweet have been pleasant and attractive. The viral movies undoubtedly reside as much as the hype, however there’s nonetheless completely no means I’d ever wait in line longer than quarter-hour nor pay greater than $15 for a bag of the Swedish goodies. And so: I declare that BonBon is a completely rated snack store.

Should you’re studying this and you’ve got a suggestion for a Snack Store within the metropolis that I need to go to and (truthfully) price, go away a remark right here or on our Snack Store TikTok video. I like ideas!