Ryl Tea and Hershey Bet on Nostalgia with Zero-Sugar Jolly Rancher Iced Teas

MORRISTOWN, N.J. – April 28, 2026 – In a move that blends childhood candy aisles with modern wellness trends, fast-growing beverage brand Ryl Tea has announced a landmark partnership with The Hershey Company. The collaboration brings the iconic, bold fruit flavors of Jolly Rancher candy to the ready-to-drink (RTD) iced tea category for the first time, launching a new line of zero-sugar beverages designed to capture the attention of a new generation of consumers.

The new lineup features three of the candy's most popular flavors: Blue Raspberry, Green Apple, and Cherry. Each can promises the unmistakable taste of Jolly Rancher but is formulated as a better-for-you refreshment, containing zero sugar, five calories or less, and fortified with Vitamin C and antioxidants. This launch places Ryl Tea at the confluence of two powerful market forces: the consumer's desire for familiar, comforting flavors and the unwavering demand for healthier beverage options.

A Sweet Spot Where Nostalgia Meets Health

The Ryl x Jolly Rancher launch is a calculated entry into a market trend industry analysts call "newstalgia"—the reimagining of classic, beloved products for contemporary tastes and lifestyles. As consumers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, increasingly prioritize health, they are not abandoning indulgence but seeking smarter ways to satisfy their cravings. This has fueled explosive growth in the zero-sugar beverage sector, which is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 14% through the next decade.

More than 40% of consumers report that nostalgic flavors influence their purchasing decisions, creating a massive opportunity for brands that can successfully bridge the gap between fond memories and functional benefits. The new Ryl Teas are engineered to do just that. The company states that achieving the final formulations was a months-long process of close collaboration with the Jolly Rancher team to meticulously replicate the candy's signature taste profile within a brewed tea base. The result is a product that feels both comfortingly familiar and refreshingly new.

This trend has been validated by other players in the beverage space. Brands like Ghost and C4 Energy have seen tremendous success by licensing candy flavors like Sour Patch Kids and, notably, Jolly Rancher itself for their energy drinks. Ryl Tea is applying this proven formula to the burgeoning RTD iced tea market, a category where claims of "no/low sugar" have increased significantly as brands race to meet consumer demand.

Strategic Sips: The Business Behind the Brew

For The Ryl Company, a startup founded in 2022, this partnership is a significant strategic maneuver. While the company has seen meteoric growth—securing over $30 million in funding and expanding its retail footprint to a projected 40,000 stores by the end of 2025—this collaboration provides an invaluable asset: the instant brand recognition of a confectionery icon. In the fiercely competitive RTD beverage aisle, leveraging the Jolly Rancher name offers a powerful shortcut to consumer awareness and trial.

"Jolly Rancher is one of the most recognizable and beloved candy brands, and we're thrilled to partner with Hershey to reimagine these legendary flavors for modern refreshment," said Blodin Ukella, founder and CEO of The Ryl Company. "We built Ryl to deliver bold flavor with zero sugar and clean-label ingredients you can feel good about, and this partnership brings that to life in something that feels both nostalgic and completely new for today's consumer."

For The Hershey Company, the partnership represents a savvy extension of its brand licensing strategy. Rather than remaining confined to the candy aisle, Hershey is pushing its intellectual property into high-growth adjacent markets. This allows the company to capitalize on the equity of its legacy brands while tapping into the wellness trend. The collaboration with Ryl Tea is not Hershey's first foray into functional beverages, following a successful partnership with C4 Energy that also featured Jolly Rancher flavors.

"The Jolly Rancher brand has always stood for bold and impossibly fruity flavors," noted Ernie Savo, Sr. Director Global Licensing at The Hershey Company. "Partnering with Ryl Tea allows us to bring Jolly Rancher Candy's iconic flavor into a new format that feels fresh, unexpected, and perfect for today's consumer."

Fueling a #RylFlavorRivalry

To amplify the launch, Ryl Tea is deploying a social-first marketing campaign centered around the hashtag #RylFlavorRivalry. The campaign aims to turn flavor preference into a widespread cultural debate, encouraging consumers to pick a side and declare their allegiance online. Kicking off the initiative is professional football quarterback Jameis Winston, who has previously partnered with the brand for its limited-edition Rocket Pop flavor.

Consumers are invited to join #TeamBlueRaspberry or #TeamGreenApple by posting on social media and tagging the company. This strategy is designed to generate organic buzz and user-generated content, creating a community around the product launch and driving engagement far beyond traditional advertising. It’s a modern playbook for a modern product, aimed squarely at the digitally native consumers who are key to the brand's growth.

The new Ryl Tea x Jolly Rancher flavors are rolling out nationwide. Blue Raspberry and Green Apple are available at major retailers including Target and Walmart, as well as online through Amazon and TikTok Shop. The Cherry flavor will debut as a Target exclusive for a limited time before a wider release later in the summer, giving the retailer a unique draw to attract curious shoppers.