Shades by Niko

About

About Shades by Niko Shades by Niko is a British vegan sweet brand created by YouTuber and content creator Niko Omilana, launched in May 2025. The brand is named after Niko's signature children's sunglasses, which became part of his public persona during his 2021 London mayoral campaign. The sweets themselves are shaped like sunglasses in a deliberate visual nod to that campaign. The brand launched into Sainsbury's, Co-op, WH Smith Travel and Booker through wholesale partner Hancocks, and has since expanded into specialist sweet retail. Niko's audience skews predominantly Gen Z and male (around 90% male per The Grocer's launch coverage), and the brand has been built specifically to serve a sweet-buying demographic that's been underserved by traditional confectionery: viewers who keep Halal, who eat vegan, who avoid gluten, or who simply want a less-cynical sweet brand than the legacy options. The product has held its momentum well past the typical influencer-launch cycle, which is unusual for celebrity sweet brands. The four-way dietary credentials This is the strongest reason to buy Shades by Niko, and the reason the brand has built genuine staying power rather than just initial influencer-driven demand. The recipe is simultaneously: Halal certified : no pork-derived ingredients, no alcohol, no animal-derived emulsifiers Vegan : no gelatine, no dairy, no honey, no insect-derived colours Gluten-free : no wheat, barley or rye in the recipe Dairy-free : no milk-derived ingredients UK sweet brands that hit all four of these certifications at once are genuinely rare. Most "vegan" brands aren't formally Halal certified. Most Halal sweets contain dairy or aren't vegan. Most gluten-free sweets aren't vegan or Halal. Shades by Niko is one of the cleanest options in the category for shoppers who need to satisfy multiple dietary requirements at once, and the recipe achieves this without the artificial colours, flavours or emulsifiers that typically prop up dietary-restricted