Maxx Chewning has a smart strategy for his creator product: Selling his company to Hershey’s

Between the MrBeast Burger lawsuit, the Prime Hydration government probe, and the Lunchly mold situation, there has been a lot of negative press swirling around creator products in the consumables sector. But while some creator food products flounder, Maxx Chewning is sitting pretty. Chewning is the influencer behind the candy company Sour Strips, and he just sold his brand to confectionery giant Hershey’s for an undisclosed sum.

Chewning introduced Sour Strips in 2019 to share one of his greatest passions with his fans. Many of his videos involve trips to the store to buy sour candy, and he figured that his fans would feel the same enthusiasm for tart tastes and puckered lips.

That bet paid off in a big way. Chewning (yes, there’s an ‘n’ in there) sold 20,000 units of Sour Strips within the first hour of launch. He pulled in $18 million in annual sales volume, and that number shot up to $24 million by November 2023.

Now, he’ll be working alongside the biggest name in candy — at least here in the U.S. Post-acquisition, Chewning will stay on board at Sour Strips, serving as the brand’s lead for marketing and innovation.

“Our partnership with The Hershey Company represents a significant step in our mission to innovate and set new standards within the Confection category,” Chewning said in a statement. “Hershey’s exceptional track record making iconic brands worldwide aligns perfectly with our vision for Sour Strips. Together with Hershey, our team is excited to continue delivering extraordinary experiences to candy enthusiasts around the globe.”

Hershey’s is no stranger to acquisitions. Over the years, the Pennsylvania-based company has bought everything from the H.B. Reese Candy Company to Twizzlers maker Y&S. With MrBeast now claiming that his reformulated Feastables chocolate bars taste better than the competition, Hershey’s is firing back by claiming its own foothold in the world of consumable creator products.

Chewning has hit on a lot of smart ideas related to the development of Sour Strips. Choosing a type of candy that matches the foods in his videos created a natural fit with his audience, and by launching in 2019, he got ahead of the creator confection craze MrBeast jumpstarted in 2022.

But his decision to sell may be his best idea yet. Creator founders like Logan Paul and KSI have learned that it’s really hard to scale a consumables business, as the numerous lawsuits plaguing Prime show us. It can be hard for a creator to forgo their ego and turn over their brand to a company that knows how to scale up, but that’s exactly what Chewning did. Now he’s primed for even more year-over-year growth, and in his position, he’ll be able to direct Sour Strips into its sweet future.