BUBS Dupes: The Best Swedish Candy Swaps When BUBS Is Sold Out

So you finally tried BUBS. The Skulls cracked open with that bright raspberry-lime hit, the Ovaler melted into a sour-sweet cloud, and three days later the bag was empty and your jaw was sore. You went to reorder and — sold out. Again.

Welcome to the club. BUBS is the fastest-moving candy we stock, and when a drop hits TikTok the whole shelf disappears in a weekend. The good news: Sweden has been making candy at this level of craft for a hundred years, and BUBS has plenty of company. These are the dupes we reach for when our own stash runs dry.

First, why BUBS is so hard to copy

BUBS Godis is a small-batch factory in Jönköping that has been making the same foam skulls and ovaler since 1992. The recipes lean on two things American candy almost never uses: real fruit acid for the sourness, and a cornstarch-whipped foam base instead of gelatin. That's why the texture is light instead of rubbery, and why the flavor hits the front of your tongue instead of the middle.

Any "dupe" has to get close on three axes: the foam texture, the sour-without-being-harsh fruit acid, and the flavor layering (most American sour candies are one note — BUBS is three or four). Here's what actually gets close.

The raspberry skulls dupe: Malaco Djungelvrål foam

If you're chasing the Raspberry & Licorice Skulls specifically, the closest match in our shop is Malaco Djungelvrål in the sour foam variety. Same cornstarch base, same cloud-to-crumble texture, a bright berry profile that lands in the same neighborhood. It's saltier than BUBS — that's the Swedish salmiak coming through — but if you loved the Skulls you'll love these.

Shop it: Swedish sour candy collection

The ovaler dupe: Ahlgrens Bilar Surskum

Ahlgrens Bilar — the little foam cars — have been Sweden's best-selling candy for decades, and the Surskum (sour foam) edition is the ovaler dupe nobody talks about. Same pillowy foam, same restrained sourness, different shape. If you're buying BUBS ovaler by the 200g bag, swap in a bag of Surskum bilar and you won't taste the difference after the first three.

The salty licorice dupe: Djungelvrål Salt Skull

This one's controversial. BUBS fans tend to fall into two camps: people who love the raspberry-licorice combo, and people who love the salmiak-heavy skull. If you're camp two, the real dupe isn't BUBS at all — it's Djungelvrål salty foam skulls. Heavier on the ammonium chloride, lighter on the sweetness, and they hit the same craving.

The sour-belt adjacent dupe: Malaco Sura Sure

If what you love about BUBS is the lip-puckering first bite, Sura Sure is the sleeper pick. They're foam-based like BUBS, but the sour coating is intense — think warhead levels for the first five seconds, then a clean fruit finish. We stock these when the BUBS supply dries up and regular customers thank us for the rec.

The full-bag-of-weird dupe: a Swede Tooth Signature Mix

Honestly, the best dupe for a bag of BUBS is a bag of BUBS adjacents. Our Swedish Candy Signature Mix is built around the same foam-and-fruit-acid flavor family — Djungelvrål, Bilar Surskum, sour skulls, a few pieces of salmiak for depth. Customers tell us it scratches the BUBS itch better than BUBS itself on a bad day, because you get four textures instead of one.

What makes these dupes, and not just "other Swedish candy"

A lot of blogs will tell you any foam candy is a BUBS dupe. It's not true. You want:

• Cornstarch foam, not gelatin. Gelatin candies (most American gummies, Haribo sours, Trolli) have a rubbery bite. Cornstarch foam has that distinctive melt-and-crumble.
• Real fruit acid, not citric dust. BUBS uses malic and tartaric acids layered with fruit. Cheap sours only use citric, and you can tell — it's a flat, harsh sour.
• Salmiak or salt as a background note. Even the "fruity" BUBS have a tiny salt backbone. It's what makes them addictive instead of cloying.

All of the candies above check all three boxes. That's why they work.

How to stock up when BUBS is back in

If you're reading this and BUBS is, for a rare moment, actually in stock — grab it here and buy two bags. One for now, one for when it sells out again. We ship from Tampa, usually same-day if you order before 2pm, and we'll throw in a sample of whichever dupe we think you'd love based on your order.

The bottom line

BUBS is worth the hunt, but the hunt isn't the only way. Swedish candy is the deepest foam-and-fruit-acid catalog in the world, and a dozen brands have been quietly making candy at BUBS-level quality since before BUBS existed. Try Djungelvrål if you love Skulls. Try Bilar Surskum if you love Ovaler. Try Sura Sure if you love the pucker. Build a mix. Keep a backup bag.

And if you don't know where to start, message us — we'll tell you exactly which bag to open first.