In “Parks and Recreation,” Pawnee’s leading sweet-treat manufacturer is Sweetums.
Sweetums is a fictional candy company that plays a major role in Pawnee’s civic and commercial life. The Newport family owns the business, and the company is portrayed as one of the city’s richest and most influential institutions. Its products are popular with residents, giving Sweetums considerable power over local public opinion.
The company becomes central in the season-two episode “Sweetums,” which originally aired on February 4, 2010. Sweetums proposes a partnership with Pawnee’s Parks and Recreation Department to sell its supposedly nutritious Nutriyums snack bars in city parks. Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins discover that the bars contain large amounts of sugar and corn syrup, leading to a public dispute over corporate influence and healthy eating.
A common mix-up is confusing Sweetums with Nutriyums. Sweetums is the manufacturer; Nutriyums is one of its products. The company’s name is also used as the title of the episode exploring the controversy.