Bubs Swedish Candy: The Ultimate Guide

Bubs Godis is a Swedish candy maker founded in 1988 in Jönköping, Sweden. The brand is best known for its foam-and-jelly shapes: soft, chewy pieces with a fine sugar coating and a signature airy texture that sets them apart from typical gummies. Every core recipe is vegan — no gelatin — which is a big reason Bubs Swedish candy has picked up such a broad audience outside Sweden.

The sura skalle — sour skulls — are the item that made Bubs candy go viral. Each skull layers three flavors, most famously raspberry, salty licorice, and sour foam. The pull is the contrast: sharp sour, deep salt-licorice, and a soft foam finish, all in one small bite.

If you've only ever had American-style sour candy, expect something different. Salty licorice (salmiak) is a core flavor across Scandinavia, and Bubs leans into it rather than hiding it.

The ovals are the pastel, egg-shaped Bubs pieces you see all over TikTok and Instagram. Same foam-and-jelly base as the skulls, but milder — fruit-forward flavors like raspberry, peach, and mango, with a softer sweet-tart profile. If sour skulls are the challenge tier, ovals are the everyday tier.

A few things line up at once: the candy is genuinely vegan, the textures are unusual for anyone raised on gummy bears, the flavor combinations are bolder than most Western candy, and the packaging is instantly recognizable. That combination travels well on short-form video.

Bubs isn't stocked in most American grocery stores, so getting a fresh bag usually means ordering from a Swedish candy importer. We carry Bubs in our main shop and feature it in select Drops when we can source it fresh.

Browse Bubs and other Swedish favorites at swedishcandyculture.com, or watch for the next Drop where Bubs shows up in a bundle.