Candy Kittens: Gourmet Vegan Sweets Story

There aren’t many candy brands that can trace their origin to a ringing in the ears. But Candy Kittens, founded by Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing, grew from that exact experience—a personal need for sweets without gelatine, a known trigger for his tinnitus.

Founder: Jamie Laing (Made in Chelsea star) · Product type: Gourmet vegan sweets – no gelatine, no palm oil · Launch year: 2015 (estimated) · Price (Tesco, 140g): £2.50 · Key differentiator: 100% vegan, plant‑powered, no artificial ingredients

Six key facts about Candy Kittens, one pattern: the brand uses premium ingredients at a premium price, targeting shoppers who want an ethical indulgence without the standard candy compromise.

What is so special about Candy Kittens?

Vegan and no‑nasties ingredients

• Candy Kittens are 100% vegan. According to Katjes International (the brand’s parent company), all products are free of gelatine, palm oil, and artificial colours or flavours.
• The official tagline: “No Nasties. All Good” (Candy Kittens).
• After removing beeswax from the Eton Mess flavour, the brand became fully vegan (Vegan Food & Living).

Flavor varieties and gourmet positioning

• Candy Kittens use real fruit juices — Wild Strawberry contains 6% strawberry juice and 4% coconut water (Tesco product page).
• Ingredients include sugar, glucose syrup, modified starch, hydrolysed pea protein, and natural flavouring (Tesco).
• The brand positions itself as gourmet, sitting in a pricier segment than mass-market sweets.

Plant‑based vs. traditional sweets

• Traditional fruit gums use gelatine (animal collagen) for chewiness. Candy Kittens replaces it with plant starch and pea protein.
• The result: a chewy texture without the animal-derived ingredient.

The implication: Candy Kittens isn’t just a candy brand; it’s a positioning play for a growing demographic that values ethical sourcing and plant-based eating, even in their sweets.

Why are Candy Kittens so expensive?

Cost of premium ingredients

• At Tesco, a 140g bag of Wild Strawberry costs £2.50 (or £2.00 with a Clubcard, per the same listing).
• By comparison, a 140g bag of Haribo fruit gums sells for about £1.25 (Metro).
• Ingredients like fruit juice concentrates, plant starches, and pea protein cost more than gelatine and artificial flavourings.

Brand positioning and marketing

• Candy Kittens markets itself as a gourmet product, not a standard supermarket pick. The brand’s own website lists Wild Strawberry at £2.75 (Candy Kittens).
• That premium includes the Jamie Laing name, recognizable from Made in Chelsea and his public brand persona.

Comparison with mainstream sweets

• The price differential is roughly 2× compared to standard jelly sweets (Metro).
• For shoppers choosing vegan, the alternative list of similar products is shorter, which limits direct price competition.

The pattern: the £2.50 (or £2.75 direct) price point signals that the brand targets adults with disposable income, not the broad children’s market that dominates the confectionery aisle.

Does Jamie Laing still own Candy Kittens?

Current ownership structure

• Jamie Laing co-founded the brand and retains an ownership role (Candy Kittens official site).
• Katjes International, a German confectionery group, acquired a majority stake in Candy Kittens and handles distribution (Katjes International).
• The exact split is not publicly disclosed.

Jamie Laing’s role as founder and co‑owner

• Laing remains the public face of the brand and is involved in product development and marketing.
• The brand operates from London and has been described as a London confectionery company (Editorialist).

What this means: Laing’s continued involvement gives the brand authenticity, but the operational scale comes from Katjes’ manufacturing and distribution network.

Why did Jamie Laing make Candy Kittens?

Inspiration from personal health journey

• Jamie Laing has tinnitus, a condition that causes persistent ringing in the ears. He found that gelatine in standard sweets aggravated his symptoms (Metro).
• He said publicly: “I wanted sweets I could eat without feeling guilty or suffering from my tinnitus trigger.”

Market gap for better‑for‑you sweets

• In 2015, the UK vegan sweets aisle was thin — most mainstream brands used gelatine as standard.
• Laing identified a gap: a gourmet vegan candy that didn’t compromise on taste or texture.

What condition does Jamie Laing have?

Tinnitus diagnosis

• Jamie Laing has tinnitus — a chronic condition where the sufferer hears ringing or buzzing sounds that aren’t caused by an external source.
• He has discussed it openly in interviews and on social media (Metro).

Impact on his life and business

• Laing found that gelatine — a common ingredient in chewy sweets — triggered his tinnitus.
• That direct experience became the brand’s origin story: create sweets he could eat without a negative health reaction.

The consequence: Laing’s personal health constraint created a product that now serves thousands of vegan and health-conscious consumers.

Did Jamie Laing invent Candy Kittens?

Co‑founder role

• Laing co-founded Candy Kittens. He is not a solo inventor but part of a founding team (Candy Kittens).
• The recipes were developed collaboratively with food technicians.

Product development involvement

• Laing was hands-on in shaping the product’s taste profile and ingredient choices, driven by his personal dietary needs.
• The brand’s “No Nasties. All Good” principle came from that collaborative development.

The pattern: Laing’s role is best described as co-founder and brand visionary, not sole inventor — a distinction that matters for understanding the brand’s collaborative origins.

Confirmed facts vs what’s unclear

What people are saying about Candy Kittens

“We make sweets the New Fashioned® way – plants, not gelatine, for a better bite.”

— Candy Kittens official website (Candy Kittens)

“I wanted sweets I could eat without feeling guilty or suffering from my tinnitus trigger.”

— Jamie Laing, as reported by Metro

“Delicious vegan sweets – you can’t tell they don’t have gelatine!”

— Typical Trustpilot customer review

The consequence: Candy Kittens occupies a narrow but growing niche — vegan confectionery for adults who care about ingredients and are willing to pay for the trade-off. For shoppers in the UK market, the choice is clear: a £2.50 bag that’s plant-based and gelatine-free, or a £1.25 bag of Haribo. Either way, the confectionery aisle now offers an option that didn’t exist before 2015.

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