Air New Zealand ‘Sweetstake’ lolly jar competition winner announced

The Air New Zealand lolly jar competition has ended, with the final number of lollies revealed.
The 4.5-metre-tall jar was moved around 11 cities from October 1 to 20, giving Kiwis the chance to guess how many lollies were inside to win Airpoints.
More than 210,000 Kiwis participated in the competition, from Auckland financial institutions to Invercargill classrooms.
So, how many were inside? Air New Zealand can now reveal 729,370 lollies were packed inside the giant jar.
A Kiwi from Mount Maunganui won the grand prize with a guess that was just four off the total; 729,374. As a result, they have won 50,000 Airpoints Dollars.
The impressive accuracy wasn’t guesswork but careful calculation, the airline revealed. The Kiwi visited the jar in person so they could measure it, measure the size of a lolly then calculate how many would be inside, even factoring air and space available.
Air New Zealand’s general manager domestic Scott Carr said he was delighted by how many Kiwis participated and their creative techniques for guessing.
“Kiwis came out in force to see the jar firsthand, with many employing different tactics to understand the dimensions of the jar in the hope a mathematical equation would help them guess correctly,” he said.
“We saw measuring tapes, some used AI, and others used the old-school method of counting a small square of lollies to then multiply.”
One Nelson family used mathematical software to run calculations and a Hamilton local brought a 3D scanner to the jar. A class of schoolchildren from Invercargill also visited as part of a maths lesson.
“Some used their Airpoints number as a guide, while others speculated our aircraft numbers might be involved – leading to numerous guesses like 777,000 and 787,000,” Carr said.
Throughout the 20-day event, New Zealanders submitted their guesses, with 1300 lucky participants winning a share of one million Airpoints Dollars.
The iconic Air New Zealand sweet is available in five flavours: strawberry, peppermint, lime, lemon, and orange. Not only is it a nice treat at the end of a flight, but it can also help relieve the pressure in ears at high altitudes.
Air New Zealand has served the hard-boiled sweets for over half a century and dishes out 19 million of them a year.