What do you do when Lemonade Sour Cherry Nerds, a key ingredient of the SOUR VS SOUR chocolate bar, are discontinued?

A chocolate bar redesign!

In the Spring of 2025 we went back to the tastemaking lab to re-envision the SOUR VS SOUR bar, seeking the right flavour balance between natural and synthetic, junky and refined, kid and adult sensibilities. With a new crew of Grade 3 & 4 students from Queen Alexandra Elementary and some of the original SOUR VS SOUR gang (now in Grade 12!), we created not one, but two new bars! Due to strong and differing opinions, SOUR VS SOUR now comes in Cherry Area or Apple Persuasion.

We worked with our friends at EVR to learn about cacao from different origins, and the growers who care for the plants and the land. We taste tested and experimented with flavor combinations. We thought about the way that corporations speak to kids through marketing and social media, and we made our own videos and sound to tell the story of how these bars are made.

SOUR VS SOUR II is available for a limited time at READ Books, Peabody’s Photo Parlour. Proceeds will go to War Child Canada, as selected by the participating students.

The students were: Anthony, Aurelius, Ayush, Casper, Chloe, Cozy, Elton, Felix, Frances, Freya, Helena, Hunter, Knight, Nayeli, Rieker, Rosemary, Sawyer, Selene, Sora, Taaha and Travis. Thank you to Danielle, Daniella, Cami and Justice for coming back to QA to help! SVS II was researched, developed and produced in on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (otherwise known as Vancouver, Canada).

SVS II was produced with support from The Canada Council of the Arts and the Nanaimo Art Gallery.

Big thanks to Jennifer Hallen at EVR. Cindy Nickel, Jamine Hickman, Joe Maher and Silvana Guzzo from Queen Alexandra Elementary School all played roles in supporting SVS II. Aya Garcia, Jessie Currell and Pietro Sammarco produced new sound and video work with the students.  Victoria Lum assisted in the design of the packaging, printed by Royal Printers and foil stamped by Gryphon Graphics.