Medway St Dairy shop assistant Donna McCullough said the imported snacks, such as ice creams shaped like fruits and fried chicken, were flying off the shelves.
"We’ve got car loads of school kids coming in," she said.
"They come from the other side of town, they come from as far as Mataura or on their way back to Christchurch — wide and far, for sure."
Ms McCullough had not heard of the novelty ice creams, peeling fruit gummies and other candies until the children came in and said they had seen them online.
Social media users make videos of themselves sampling the unusual snacks, increasing the drive for consumers from across the world to want in on the trends.
Other social media trends include the Labubu, a collectable soft toy that can be attached to a bag as an accessory, and Dubai chocolate, a filo and pistachio-cream-filled chocolate bar.
The two trends are also represented, blended together for increased commercial value and sold at the Gore dairy in the form of a Dubai chocolate Labubu.
Ms McCulloch said customers were coming in especially for the snacks, and it created an experience for shoppers.
The dairy had lollies that could not be found in Christchurch or Auckland, so people would buy boxes of candy to take away, she said.
When the products sell out, she has taken down customers’ numbers, to call them when they were back in stock.
But there are still some adults who still do not understand the craze.
Recently, someone asked Ms McCullough whether the fried chicken ice cream — a crumbed vanilla ice cream with a chocolate "bone" — was served hot.
Store owner Prabdeep Randhawa said he had business friends in Sydney and elsewhere that tipped him off on the rise of the snacks.
Having worked in the grocery industry for a while now, he had learned what created excitement for consumers.
"Once it’s all hyped in Australia, then it comes to New Zealand," he said.
