Mars Wrigley Confectionery is launching its first texture innovation in 18 years across two of its best performing sugar confectionery brands, Skittles and Starburst.

Designed to overcome barriers to purchase, new Skittles Chewies and Starburst Minis are the latest additions to Mars Wrigley Confectionery’s £48.7m candy portfolio.

Skittles Chewies is described as Skittles Fruits without the shell. The removal of the crunchy shell creates a soft fruity texture and provides a lighter texture and less intense flavour profile

It has standout pink packaging to differentiate from the core range, and will be available in single bags and sharing pouches.

A £1.2m media campaign will support the launch of Skittles Chewies and include Facebook and Instagram GIFs and Memes as well as a 6- and 20-second videos for YouTube.

Starburst Minis are a smaller version of Starburst Original, unwrapped for easier consumption, providing an easy-to-eat, fruity explosion of mini pellets.

Dan Newell, fruity confectionery portfolio director at Mars Wrigley Confectionery, said: “We are extremely excited to add two huge innovations to our existing Skittles and Starburst lines. Having undertaken extensive research, we found that retailers and consumers alike were looking for something with an alternative texture that still retained the fruity flavours of our much loved brands. As such, the launch represents huge sales opportunity for retailers to keep up-to-date with the latest trends in the fruit confectionery category.”