Days after eJewishPhilanthropy reported on the discontinuation of the synagogue staple Sunkist Fruit Gems, the company announced on Saturday that it would be bringing back the beloved kosher candy.

“We hear you, Sunkist Fruit Gems fans! The good news: Sunkist Fruit Gems are not going anywhere,” Sunkist wrote on its Instagram page. “We’ve been working with a new trusted family owned candy maker to help us bring back the same great flavor, quality, kosher certification, and fruit-forward goodness you know and love.”

The company said that it is “aiming to have them back on shelves very soon.”

On Thursday, eJP reported that the squishy neon-colored candies had been discontinued in May. For more than a half-century, the individually wrapped, kosher-certified and, crucially, not-too-hard candies had been ubiquitous in synagogues of all denominations and types across the United States, typically used to shower bar and bat mitzvah children, couples about to be wedded and other celebrants. 

The discontinuation of the Fruit Gems prompted a good-hearted national backlash, particularly on social media, where people jokingly called the move “antisemitic” or wrote “baruch dayan emet,” the traditional phrase that is used when hearing that a person has died. Writing the next day in eJP, Sara Fredman Aeder, a vice president at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, recommended a mass campaign to save the beloved sweets. There were also multiple follow-up articles penned in other news outlets, including one in The New York Times, along with online petitions and, eJP has learned, several Shabbat sermons in synagogues.

Sales of the Fruit Gems promptly spiked as synagogues and individuals rushed to purchase the remaining candies in warehouses before they went out of stock, and the suddenly precious Gems sold out on Amazon and Walmart. 

A spokesperson for The Ferrara Candy Company, which purchased the firm manufacturing Sunkist Fruit Gems, told eJP last week that it was possible for the candies to be revived if there were sufficient demand for them. 

“You never know,” the representatives said, “but that’s not likely.”

News that Sunkist would indeed revive the candy was met with joy and appreciation on social media, toward both the company and eJP for prompting the outcry with its report. 

“You need to have some medal or honorific presented to you as a hero of Judaism,” Dave Cavell, a speechwriter for former Vice President Kamala Harris, wrote to eJP’s Jay Deitcher in response to the news.

“Thank you,” another social media user wrote in response to Sunkist’s Instagram post. “Our special occasions would never be the same without them.”

Jay Deitcher contributed to this report.