Are you ready to “taste the ultimate remix?” After the successful launch of Welch’s® Fusions™, a double-flavor fruit snack line including Citrus Surge, Tropical Tornado, and Original Fruits, the brand is stepping off the shelves and engaging with fans through live music. Starting in 2026, Welch’s® Fruit Snacks will maximize the multi-sensory experience by partnering with C3 Presents, one of the largest concert promoters in the US, in a multi-year collaboration. Beyondish spoke with Danielle Dexter, Director of Integrated Marketing & Communications at PIM Brands, to learn more about how Welch’s® Fusions™ is engaging with music lovers this summer and the future of the brand’s in-real-life activations.
Tell us a little about Welch’s® Fusions™?
Fusions™ is a new extension of our portfolio that was intentionally designed to attract Gen Z, with bold, unexpected flavor combinations that reflect a more adventurous, expressive consumer. When launching, we knew we had to treat this line differently from classic Welch’s® Fruit Snacks and bring the product to market in a culture-first way that felt young, fresh and fun. Due to the 2-in-1 flavor and texture profile, we like to say that Welch’s® Fusions™ are “Fruit Snacks, Remixed.” That thinking naturally led us to music as a heartbeat for the brand.
How did the partnership with C3 Presents and Welch’s® Fusions™ come about?
Activating and encouraging discovery at music festivals became a natural tenet of our plan, which is where C3 Presents came in. People attend these events to see their favorite artists, but a huge part of the experience is also the excitement of discovering new sounds and emerging talent. We saw an opportunity to tap into that same sense of curiosity by encouraging fans to discover a new favorite snack in the same way they discover a new favorite artist.
Fans were able to participate in an all-expenses-paid sweepstakes to the Governor’s Ball in NYC and will be able to again for Lollapalooza in Chicago. What do both Welch’s® Fusions™ and C3 Presents hope to accomplish with a multi-year partnership like this?
We are seeing strong early signals that this approach is resonating. Across the Governor’s Ball and Lollapalooza sweepstakes, we have already seen tens of thousands of entries, which speaks not only to excitement around the festivals themselves but also to the growing interest in Fusions™ and the experiences we are creating around it. Partnering with C3 Presents and showing up at festivals like Gov Ball and Lolla drives the brand’s relevance and credibility. This partnership is all about building awareness for a new product and getting it into the hands (and mouths) of the audience it was made for.
This line is one of Welch’s® Fruit Snacks’ best-selling innovations, so you guys are definitely hitting the mark.
Welch’s® Fusions™ is still new, and we know that tasting is believing, so creating opportunities for real-time sampling is incredibly important. On top of the IRL engagement and trial, we’ve built experiences that naturally invite social sharing and help amplify the brand far beyond physical festival attendees, creating a halo effect that builds momentum over time. A multi-year partnership allows us to build on that momentum each year. It gives us the opportunity to turn first-time triers into repeat fans and organically grow brand advocacy as people discover and share Fusions™ both in person and across their social channels.
The Welch’s® Fusions™ team just finished hosting an activation at Gov Ball. You guys are gearing up for another one at Lollapalooza. Both of these festivals have different vibes. How will the activations differ between the two festivals?
While both activations will celebrate the spirit of Welch’s® Fusions™, we’ll tailor elements of the experience to match the energy of each festival, the city and its audience. Fans can expect immersive, shareable moments, opportunities to sample product, and interactive experiences that bring our juicy flavor mashups to life.
I really like Welch’s® Fusions™ tagline, which invites customers to “taste the ultimate remix.” Tell us a little more about that. How does Welch’s® Fusions™ hope to blend sound and flavor?
The idea of a remix comes directly from music, where artists blend sounds, styles, and genres to create something entirely new. That same creative energy is what inspired Fusions™. With Welch’s Fusions™, every piece combines two flavors into one bite, creating mashups that feel unexpected, bold, and fun. “Taste the Ultimate Remix” is our playful invitation for consumers to experience flavor the way they experience music, as something exciting, expressive, and worth sharing with others.
When I think of the word fusion, food automatically comes to mind. Beyondish has focused heavily on how people use food and beverages as a gateway to step outside the box, blending new ingredients and cultural curiosity. With this partnership, I also started thinking about cross-cultural exchange through sound. What does the word ” fusion ” mean to Welch’s® Fruit Snacks? Especially when it comes to food and music.
For us, fusion is all about creativity and the unexpected. Each combination is designed to feel a little surprising. Many of the flavors in our lineup are inspired by exotic or global profiles (like Dragon Fruit, Passionfruit, and Yuzu) or lean into trendy, tangy notes like Tart Cherry, Lime, and Pink Grapefruit that we know young adults are gravitating toward. By leaning into that shared spirit of exploration, we are able to connect flavor and sound in a way that feels authentic. It allows us to tap into how Gen Z experiences culture today, where creativity often comes from mixing things that would not traditionally go together.
I have so many memories surrounding Welch’s® Fruit Snacks, and the brand has a very engaged community. How does the team hope to continue engaging with consumers offline after festival season ends?
We love our community of fans! The impact of festival season goes beyond what happens on the festival grounds. For Welch’s® Fusions™, we are focused on creating engaging moments that extend before, during, and after the events. This includes everything from on-campus sampling initiatives to creator partnerships [such as @clarenceeangelo, @aiyannacee, @zoecolletti, @jazmin_c3 and @byaimeekelly and @chelseaasoflate] to retail activations. Fans can expect to engage with Welch’s® Fusions™ all year long! Our goal is always to meet consumers where they are and create memorable interactions that go beyond the snack aisle, and that approach applies to the rest of the products in our beloved our Welch’s® Fruit Snacks portfolio too.
AUTHOR
Allanah Dykes is a freelance writer whose niche is home decor and food, but she has written in almost every field from mental health to political op-eds. Her favorite pastimes are listening to Biggie and Bach and enjoying New York Italian ices and slices
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