Hey, you got your Cheerwine in my Goo Goo Cluster! No, you got your Goo Goo Cluster in my Cheerwine!
In the classic 1970s candy ads that inspired the above reprise, there was always a moment of comedic suspense as to whether the uniting of two differently delicious indulgences was a good thing. Southern confection fans aren’t likely to feel any such hesitation over a new combo that infuses a chocolatey Goo Goo Cluster with the cherry-cola flavor of Cheerwine soda.
The Cheerwine Goo Goo Cluster is a gooey mingling of Southern cult favorites 113 years in the making and, notably, Goo Goo’s first new variation on the classic treat since the peanut butter version was introduced in 1991.
The family-owned makers of the two components also share remarkably similar backstories: Nashville-based Standard Candy Company first whipped up its distinctively lumpy little mounds of milk chocolate, roasted peanuts, marshmallow nougat, and caramel in 1912. Cheerwine was formulated in 1917 by bottler L.D. Peeler in Salisbury, North Carolina, where the Carolina Beverage Company is still based today. And while both are distributed beyond the region, their most rabid fan bases remain in the Southeast. So how did this sweet hookup finally come to be?
“We did a premium Goo Goo with Cheerwine that was sold only for a limited time in our downtown Nashville shop in 2020, and it was a huge hit,” says Goo Goo Cluster president Laurie Spradley. “Our fans wanted more, so we knew we needed to convert that to a product that could be made available far and wide. After about a year of sampling, we landed on the perfect flavor profile.”
That meticulous research and development process, also known as eating a ton of candy, resulted in Cheerwine’s signature wild cherry punch infusing Goo Goo’s nougat and caramel layers. (A clean bite reveals the marshmallow nougat’s cherry hue.) “I’ll be honest, I was skeptical at first, but I ate the whole first sample I tried,” Spradley says. “I love the mix of cherry and chocolate.”
Cheerwine’s vice president of marketing, Joy Harper, got on board early with the collaboration, too. “When Goo Goo Cluster approached us, it was an easy ‘yes.’” she says. “We’re so excited to share another way for our fans to enjoy Cheerwine. The feedback so far has been incredible.”
Still, the flavor combo does raise a tricky question: Even for the biggest of fans, is it acceptable to drink a Cheerwine while also eating a Cheerwine Goo Goo Cluster? “Absolutely!” Harper says. “It doesn’t get more Southern than that!”
