For my entire life, I’ve been a fruit snacks enthusiast. As a child, I was indoctrinated by the seemingly limitless 90s fruit-snack-sphere: Shark Bites, Gushers, Fun Fruits, and (deep cut) Fruit Wrinkles. To this day, my movie-th snack of choice is Welch’s Fruit Snacks. What, like they’re only for children or something? Something about the gummy texture, the vibrant flavors, the bite-sized format — it all just adds up for me into something gr than the sum of its parts, a marvel of modern food science.
I recently heard that Los Angeles-based chic-cool-stuff-brand Flamingo Estate — maker of what’s probably the world’s best seasonal food subscription box and a Swedish princess cake candle that could make you cry in its olfactory beauty, among other things — offers an adult version of the fruit snack, for $82 per 6.5-ounce jar, no less. My first thought was, I am the target audience. It’s me. And these aren’t just any fruit snacks; colloquially referred to as “Spicy Strawberry Fruit Snacks” on the brand’s website, their longer and more formal name is Juicy Strawberry Spicy Guajillo Key Lime Squeeze Fruit Snack(s). My intrigue swelled.
I read the website’s copy for this mysterious product, once, and then again.
“We took the lushest, ripest Strawberries from Harry’s Berries and dusted them with the bright spice of Guajillo Chiles grown by Boonville Barn Collective, adding a squeeze of Key Lime and a pinch of Big Sur Sea Salt. Then we gently dehydrated them to preserve their juiciness and concentrate all of that quintessential Strawberry flavor. The result is these small dried wonders. Insanely addictive, sweet, tart and spicy with a delectable chew. Truly nature’s candy.”
At this juncture, I paused. These “small dried wonders” sound like all I’ve ever wanted: the one fruit snack to rule them all. The antidote. The culmination of my desires. Do you know about Harry’s Berries? They’re, like, the Platonic ideal of strawberries; they’re a Southern California sensation set apart by their exceptional quality, flavor, sweetness, and jamminess. The lines for Harry’s Berries at any Los Angeles-area farmer’s market tend to be long, snaking, and unrelenting. To make these berries into a chewy snack… unheard of, previously, as far as I know.
“We are honored to partner with the inimitable Harry’s Berries by using their exquisite Strawberries. This small-batch family farm has been growing for over 50 years, and is the true definition of generational farming. Their berries represent what Strawberries should be at their best — harvested when perfectly ripe, ruby red, and sweet. They are Certified Organic, employ sustainable growing practices, and have a deep commitment to stewardship of the land.”
I imagined transcendence. I yearned. I longed! I saw hot people eating the fruit snacks on TikTok and Instagram and felt a profound sense of FOMO.
Lo and behold, I eventually became a recipient of a jar of these storied creations. Could chewing on a Spicy Strawberry Snack so robustly exceed the joy of eating a bag of saxophone-shaped Fun Fruit?
First impressions: the Strawberry Spicy Snacks definitely feel premium. The jar and label have a much different presence than the thin plastic or foil-lined paper packets from which I’ve historically eaten fruit snacks. A jar feels… artisanal. Open it and you’ll see dozens of dark, shiny berries, glimmering like rubies with a syrupy, crystalline sweetness instead of the satin finish of a traditional, preservative-covered fruit snack. Did I mention that they’re made with almost entirely organic ingredients (besides the sea salt — salt cannot legally be certified “organic”)?
Naturally, you want to know how they taste, what it’s like to eat them. The answer is: surprisingly complex. At first, the stickiness was a bit of a surprise — they’re not gooey, but they definitely don’t have that sort of powder-coated anti-stick technology found in, say, Welch’s, or the fruit snacks of the 90s. They’re still definitely finger food, but you will need to give your hands a quick wipe or rinse after eating. Chopsticks could be an asset here. That said, I enjoy the mouthfeel of the tiny seeds embedded in the strawberries’ surfaces, despite internal references in my psyche that liken jammy, seedy fruit to alien pod people.
As for the flavor, it begins with a slight tartness that morphs into a sweet, jelly-like, classic strawberry flavor that soon gives way to a surprising amount of heat. They’re not joking — these fruit snacks are unquestionably spicy; they’re spicier than Cholula hot sauce, which I generously doused on my eggs this morning, but not spicy enough to induce any sweating. I’d say they’re on par with hot Takis or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos — there’s a slow and mild burn but it fades within about 15 seconds of finishing each bite. Think an elevated, less tropical and more berry-forward interpretation of chile mango.
The TL;DR is that they’re delicious; a Harry’s Berry marinated in sugar, lime juice, Guajillo chile, and cayenne, as it turns out, creates a chewy, tactile gift of the Earth. They’re sweet but in an adult way; piquant but not in a way that’s limiting. They are very chewy, a quality which I both enjoy and, as a TMJ sufferer, lament. Some berries (sorry, “snacks”) require a solid 20+ seconds of forceful chewing. Truthfully, I like them a lot, but would only eat a few at a time. Savor them. Don’t let the magic become routine.
As for the price tag — which, at $82 per jar, is undoubtedly eye-popping — let’s break it down a bit. Flamingo Estate says that there are three pounds of Harry’s Berries in every jar, and a pound of Harry’s Berries costs $20 (or, from some sellers, nearly $30). Sure, Flamingo Estate surely buys them wholesale, but right there, we’re looking at $60+ of the jar’s value mathematically expressed through the cost of the berries alone. Then there are the other organic ingredients, the cooking and drying process, and the need for a profit margin, and yep, you’re looking at $82. While it’s a discourse-worthy price tag, it’s not terribly different than, say, the really expensive fruit in Japan that’s specifically developed for gifts and holidays— this isn’t a chill pantry addition for casual everyday consumption, although if that’s a possibility with the Scrooge McDuck gold swimming pool you’re working with, by all means. This is not a commodity that you’re going to buy in bulk and keep jars of on hand at all times. This is a special occasion fruit snack. A gift fruit snack. A luxury fruit snack.
By the way, these may be fruit snacks, but my personal belief system dictates that they’re not for kids. Buy your rugrats some normal gummy candy and send them outside to play in the dirt and develop an immune system. If Fruit Wrinkles still existed, I’d say get them some of those. (RIP.) (Please bring back Fruit Wrinkles.)
A case could be made that in order for the world to maintain balance, there must be not only a very cheap, accessible version of any given product, but also a highly refined, elite version. There is $6 caviar on Amazon, and there is $2,600 caviar at Bergdorf Goodman. There is the $7 olive oil at Grocery Outlet and there is the $119 olive oil at Williams Sonoma. You know, it’s like that Byrds song — there’s a time and place for all things.
So why wouldn’t there be $1.49 fruit snacks and also $82 fruit snacks? And if the latter exists, why wouldn’t we want to try them… at least once?
Spicy Strawberry Fruit Snacks are available at Flamingo Estate.
